In the Morning
by firelord-dany
Summary: Elizabeth is a recently graduated grad student moving to LA to live with her graphic designer sister. Will Darcy just wants the final year of his sister's undergraduate studies to go smootly, he plans to occupy his time with his friend Charles Bingley. CURRENTLY ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Lizzie found herself getting off the plane at LAX not as the same nervous-wreck that she was boarding the plane in Helena. She had never really traveled before, and if she had, it was always a family road trip involving a cramped car and her mother's constant nagging.

And it was the first time in her life that she had been to California, and she was nervous as coming off as the small town girl from Helena, Montana that she knew she was.

She was groggy and barely aware of her surroundings as she walked idly to the exit of the airport, where her older sister was waiting with a large sign; welcoming her to LA.

Jane had been waiting for Lizzie for a little over thirty minutes, she arrived early to make sure she was there before Lizzie was. Jane Bennet had a soft spot for all her younger sisters, but her and Lizzie were best friends since, well, since either of them could remember (their parents agreed, that there were only two years of Jane Bennet's life that she was not close with Lizzie, because the second Bennet daughter had not yet been born). She looked down at her wrist to check the time again, and noticed the acrylic paint that had found its way onto her hand. She grumbled to herself that she always forgot to clean up when she was painting. In the midst of her grumbling she looked up to see her sister, dazed and confused, walking by.

"Lizzie!" Jane yelled out to get her sister's attention. Lizzie quickly snapped her head up, registering her sister's voice. She smiled and walked over to Jane with her suitcase rolling alongside her.

"Jane," she said soothingly, as she engulfed her in a hug that resulted from best friends being separated for nearly a year, "I've missed you so much, mom's gone crazy without her only level-headed daughter there," she laughed.

"Well, now she'll go even crazier without her sarcastic daughter there to argue with her every day," Jane answered, scanning Lizzie from head to toe, "How does it feel to be fresh out of grad school?"

"I graduated over three months ago," Lizzie retorted, "I just couldn't find a job in Montana, and Dad suggested I try a city bigger than Helena or Missoula; thanks again, for letting me live with you, my beautiful, accomplished, talented artist of a sister." Lizzie leaned in to ruffle Jane's hair.

"I'm a graphic designer," Jane corrected, "I sit in front of an overpriced Mac desktop all day, and if I found luck her with my career here, so I'm sure you will, too, Lizzie." Jane began as she took the suitcase from an unwilling Lizzie, "Let me take it Lizzie, you look exhausted,"

Lizzie sighed, "You would be too if you had to get up at three in the morning to make your flight," she let Jane take the suitcase, "and jeez, I hope I find a job, I need to start paying off my student loans, I haven't been brave enough to look at how much I owe, yet… is LA always this hot?" Lizzie asked as they walked outside into the late afternoon sun.

Jane laughed, "You get used to it, it's actually not a bad temperature, and it's year round."

* * *

"Come _on_ , Will," Charlie Bingley pleaded to his friend, "Please come with me, I'll never ask anything from you ever again _,_ I promise it won't be as awful as you think it will," he paused as Darcy gave him a pointed look, "ok maybe it will, but it's one evening. And Caroline is _dying_ to see you,"

Darcy groaned at this, he enjoyed Charlie's company more than anyone, except maybe Gigi, but his sister, Caroline, was an entirely different story. Caroline Bingley may have looked the part of an appealing woman, but had rigid personality.

" _Please_ ," Charlie crowed again, "it's just one evening, and what are you doing anyway?" Charlie hesitated looking at his friend, "Okay, I'll do something for you, anything you ask."

Suddenly interested, Darcy looked up, "Don't force me to go, how about that?"

Charlie laughed nervously; he had to get Darcy to come because he had promised Caroline he would bring him.

"Okay…anything besides that,"

"No,"

"Look, Will, I promised Caroline," Charlie explained, taking a different approach, "And I will never hear the end of it if you don't come,"

Will Darcy paused and considered, _Would one night be so bad? He could avoid Caroline the entire time…_

"Only," Will said emphatically, "because you're my friend, and I don't want to see you be skinned alive by your crazy sister,"

Charlie's face illuminated, "Thank you, thank you," he said as he tried to wrap his arms around his friend who pushed him off, "I could kiss you right now,"

"Please don't,"

* * *

"Hey, Lizzie," Jane called out to her sister, who was unpacking her things into the drawers Jane had emptied for her, "some people from work got invites to some sort of party, one of my coworkers has some serious connections,"

Lizzie stood up, and leaned on the frame of the doorway as Jane continued to explain, "Anyway, they invited me, and I told them I was with you, and they said you could come, too, what do you say? How about some LA nightlife on your first 24 hours here?"

If it weren't for the power nap Lizzie had indulged in earlier that day, she would've said no, but she felt spritely, a typical side effect of power naps.

"Sure, yeah, sounds fun, but what should I wear?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hey, so this is really the first attempt at anything ever, so I realize it is, well, _rough._ Anyway, I hope to add stuff soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Okay, hi, again. This took me awhile because until this morning, it really wasn't flowing. Anyway, I tried to proofread, but I was reading fast and some stuff probably escaped my notice, so if you see anything (I am almost 100% sure you will), please let me know so I can correct it. I am also bombarded with other ideas (ex. yesterday I though about a colonial America Pride and Prejudice) and I don't really want to start something else right now. But maybe in the future. Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you like it. I am still trying to develop a more defined writing style, and hopefully I will, I am making no promises though.

* * *

Chapter Two

Darcy felt a sinking feeling as Caroline's driver pulled up to Charlie's town house. She was donning a skin-tight royal blue dress, and her thick blonde hair was pulled into a loose bun that rested on the nape of her neck. He watched her as she walked confidently up to the front door, a moment later the doorbell rang, and Charlie rushed to answer it.

"Hey, Charlie," Caroline smiled at her brother, " I hope you kept your word," she added, hinting at Darcy.

"Yes, Caroline," Charlie sighed, "he's coming."

Charlie called out to his friend, still hiding out in the bedroom. Darcy reluctantly came to the door, and greeted Caroline. She pulled him forward, and laced her arm through his. Darcy grimaced, and looked to Charlie pleadingly, who pretended to ignore him.

The entire car ride seemed to last an eternity, Charlie had conveniently managed to snag the passenger seat, leaving Darcy to fend for himself in the back.

Caroline pressed her body up against Darcy.

"Wow, you look so good tonight, Will," she rubbed the fabric covering his chest, "is this new? I've never seen you where it before and it-"

"No, I've had it for a while," Darcy replied, opening the car door to the venue, and held the door open for Caroline.

She walked past him and greeted some of the caterers.

"Try to be friendly, Will, I'm begging you,"

"I _am_ trying."

* * *

Darcy said something to Charlie, but he was occupied, staring off in the distance. Will Darcy followed his eyes to see a very pretty girl talking with a group of other women. The girl caught Charlie's eye and blushed.

"Introduce yourself if you're so infatuated," Darcy sighed. Charlie contemplated such an action until the group of women dispersed, and the young, pretty girl was left alone with another, slightly shorter brunette.

"You know what? I think I will," he added finally finding confidence now that the audience would be significantly reduced. Darcy laughed as he followed his friend to the two girls.

"Hi," Charlie began as the two girls looked up at him, "I'm Charlie, and you are..."

"Jane Bennet," the pretty one said demurely, she was much prettier up close; she had large blue eyes that made Charlie hold his breath, and her hair, pinned up in a partial ponytail was gold in the light of the party.

Lizzie rolled her eyes as she made her reply, clearly he was more interested in Jane than he was in her, "I'm Lizzie,"

Charlie smiled at the girl, she had brunette waves that framed her face, and green eyes, speckled with brown. Both of the girls' eyes followed to a taller man, standing slightly behind Charlie, almost as if for protection. He was really attractive, Lizzie thought, maybe LA was better than she thought. He had striking green eyes and chestnut colored hair.

Sensing their curiosity, "Oh, this is my best friend, Will Darcy," Darcy simply looked at the girls, whom he assumed were friends, as they smiled up at him, politely.

Turning back to Jane, "So tell me about yourself," Charlie implored, wanting to know more about the girl that had transfixed him.

"Oh, Jane's an amazing artist," Lizzie answered quickly, "honestly, this is the first time since we were six that I have seen her without paint somewhere on her body,"

"Lizzie, please," Jane laughed at her sister's comment, "I'm actually a graphic artist, I have a contract at the moment, but I also do freelance projects on the side; please excuse her, art in general is just a hobby,"

"Friend since you were six? Wow, you must be close," he added to Lizzie's comment.

They both laughed, "well we're the two first out of five sisters, and once the third came we knew we had to fight them together," Lizzie joked, "Mary was a handful as a baby, remember?" Jane agreed remembering the year aptly dubbed the year of no sleep for anyone in the Bennet household.

"Oh , sisters," Charlie remarked, mildly surprised, "Wouldn't have guessed..."

"Lizzie takes after our father, while I look the spitting image of our mother," Jane spoke softly, and smiled at Charlie.

No one spoke for a moment but before an awkward silence could taint the conversation Charlie added, "And where exactly are you two from?"

"We're from Montana," Jane explained, "I've been in LA for about two years, doing freelance stuff, but Lizzie just finished grad school at University of Montana, and she moved down here with me."

"Yeah, I thought a Master's in Environmental and Sustainable Sciences would've landed me more jobs," Lizzie laughed, "You can only do so much, anyway, what do you do?"

"Oh, haha, I'm an biomedical engineer at USC's research hospital," Charlie commented nonchalantly.

"Oh, wow," Jane and Lizzie said, both equally impressed.

Jane and Charlie continued to hit it off, and much to Lizzie's dismay, she was awkwardly paired with his friend, Darcy.

"So," Lizzie began, trying to make conversation with this stick in the mud, "what occupies your time?"

He shot her a glance, "I have a company," he said flatly.

"Ookaay, well, what kind of company?"

"Technology development,"

"That sounds interesting," Lizzie lied.

"It's not," Darcy said, not making eye contact with her. Did he read her mind? Lizzie was overly frustrated with this towering human being who apparently only grew this tall so he could easily look down over everyone else.

Darcy was so uncomfortable, why was it so hard to talk to strangers? He groaned internally. This girl was clearly trying to make conversation, and he shot her down every time, and she was really pretty. Darcy looked over at her as she began to rock back and forth on her feet. _Crap_ , he thought to himself.

Lizzie turned toward her sister and Charlie, trying to inject herself into the conversation. Darcy wa squandering her every attempt at small talk.

Eventually Lizzie grew bored of the obvious flirting that was occurring between the handsome biomedical engineer and her sister, and she wandered over to the bar.

She leaned against the bar stool while nursing her gin and tonic. She watched as her sister was pulled from Charlie by some friends from work. Charlie and Darcy were joined by a slim woman in a gorgeous cocktail dress that made Lizzie feel a little underdressed. She had strawberry blonde hair in a loose bun, and looked somewhat similar to Charlie. She clung onto Darcy's arm, and Lizzie laughed at how uncomfortable he looked. Charlie looked up and noticed Lizzie looking at them, and motioned for her to come to him. Lizzie, pleased with Charlie's kind nature, walked toward him.

"Hey, Lizzie, this my sister, Caroline," Charlie explained, gesturing to the woman wrapped around Darcy's arm.

"Hi," Caroline had a saccharine smile, "you are so..." She glanced at Lizzie's dress, and decided it must have been from Target, " _cute"_ she said decidedly.

Caroline was beautiful, but something about her seemed off, maybe it was the fact that she seemed to enjoy Darcy's presence.

"Thanks," Lizzie replied, trying as best she could not to seem sarcastic. Darcy squirmed slightly, trying to get Caroline off his arm.

An awkward silence fell over the group, until Lizzie finally mustered the courage to say, "Well, I need to find my sister," and excused herself from the group.

Darcy watched her walk away, brunette curls slightly bouncing as she walked. Damn, she was cute, Darcy thought to himself. He quickly pushed the thought from his head, and tried to deal with the current issue: getting Caroline off of him.

* * *

"Jane you have danced with him a billion times already," Lizzie complained to her sister in a secluded corner on a balcony that she dragged Jane to, "You need to spend time with your darling sister who you haven't seen in a _year."_

"Lizzie, I think he likes me," she sounded almost giddy.

"Well, duh, dumbass," Lizzie rolled her eyes, "he's either talking to you or staring at you."

Jane blushed, as two men walked out on the balcony. They didn't seem to notice Jane and Lizzie in the corner.

"Darcy just giver her a chance," Charlie pleaded, "you are so awkward, just hang out with her so you don't look so socially inept."

"Charlie, she's vile," Darcy looked at him, "You can't possibly be serious in trying to set us up."

Charlie shrugged.

"Just because you and Jane are flirting till the end of your days does not mean you have to force me with" he coughed out a word Lizzie couldn't quite make out then said, "sister."

Before Charlie could answer, Caroline marched out onto the balcony, "There you two are," Darcy felt defeated. He needed to make it as clear as possible to his friend that he was not interested in his sister.

Lizzie, however, was seething. It was pretty obvious he was talking about her, he said 'sister'. Jane looked at Lizzie, slightly afraid. The party of three made their way inside at Caroline's insistence, giving Lizzie a chance to vent.

"Me? Vile?" She fumed, "How dare he! I tried to make conversation with him, but he was beyond taciturn and unsociable. _He_ is vile, not me!" She should up with the fullest intentions of going into the party and telling him off, before Jane grabbed her wrist.

"Lizzie, no," she said, "Don't make a scene."

Lizzie was affected by Jane's earnest expression, "Fine, but let's leave now, I can't stand to be in the same vicinity as him."

* * *

"Janey, you can't be serious," Lizzie said alarmed. It was two days after the party where Jane had met Charlie, hit it off, and exchanged numbers, "You're forcing me to third wheel at your date with Charlie!"

"No, you won't be third wheeling," Jane replied calmly, "it's just friends hanging out, he's bringing Darcy."

Lizzie groaned and flung herself onto the couch, "I would much rather endorse fracking," she paused, "or fossil fuels in general"

"Don't overreact, Lizzie," Jane sat next to her defeated sister, "you don't know Darcy was talking about you."

"Jane, you always think the best of everyone, but he said your name then the word 'sister', he was definitely talking about me."

"Lizzie, I will carpool to work for the next week, and let you use my car to go to your interviews if you go with me," Jane tried to compromise, "I don't want to be alone with Charlie and Darcy."

Lizzie rolled over onto her face, "Fine," Jane thanked Lizzie profusely, "but if Darcy and I get into an argument and ruin the entire time, you CANNOT blame me," Jane readily agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Okay, I haven't had a chance to proofread, so there are definitely some grammar errors, and I apologize in advance. Anyway, if you haven't noticed I like to have people in STEM careers because I want to be in a STEM career, so researching for these characters is also researching for me, so it's fun. Sorry, this is pretty much a week late, but I had three chemistry quizzes, a chemistry exam, and a history exam last week, so I devoted most of my time to studying. Anyway, please review! And thank you!

* * *

Chapter Three

Stephanie had only been working at the local Red Lobster for about a week, and yet somehow the worst day so far, was this day. A group of four people walked in the door, seeming like a double date situation, except only two people appeared happy to be there. A pretty blonde girl and an attractive guy who looked really good in his glasses glanced at each other in a giggly flirtatious way, blushing occasionally. The other two, however, looked downright miserable. One girl with frizzy brown curls who glared straight at a tall, handsome man with striking green eyes. The man looked extremely uncomfortable under the other girl's gaze, looking at her then quickly averting his eyes.

The greeter smiled as complaisantly as she could manage, and led them to a secluded booth. Stephanie walked up to the table, introduced herself, and got their drinks order. The man with glasses smiled politely as he told her, "just lemon water, thank you." She turned to the girl seated across from him, her blonde hair was braided and slung over her shoulder, "same for me." The girl sitting next to her had a mess of hair that looked was attempted be brushed, but defiant under her efforts. "just water, no lemon." She said taking her eyes off the man sitting across from her, smiled genuinely at Stephanie, who smiled back. The very handsome man was the last to order, and Stephanie looked at him expectantly. "coke zero, no ice" he said not looking at Stephanie but rather was reading his menu as if he was going to be tested on it later.

"Sorry, we only have coke or diet coke," Stephanie told him, attempting courtesy.

He looked very annoyed, looked up and got the girl across from him's gaze, and his face fell, "normal coke, then, still no ice" he said quietly, "thank you," he added.

Stephanie thought that she was paid too little to put up with all the bullshit that this job made her deal with. She sighed heavily as she made her way back to the kitchen to get their orders.

* * *

"I hope you like seafood, Charlie," Will said to his friend, "that's most of what they have..."

"Yes, well, it is a Red Lobster, Will" he replied nonchalantly, slightly annoyed to be taken away from his conversation with Jane.

"They have other things, too," Lizzie retorted, gesturing to the breadsticks, "since seafood is so _vile_ to you," she had a sickeningly sweet smile, that bordered on sarcasm.

"I didn't say that I didn't like seafood," he tried to recover quickly, "I was just making an observation."

Lizzie scoffed audibly, and Jane turned abruptly to her sister and mouthed "be nice". Lizzie's face quickly fell, and she slumped forward.

Charlie watched the two sisters and decided to try to include Lizzie in their conversation to prevent her from verbally maiming his friend, "so, Lizzie, any luck finding a job?"

She brightened almost immediately, "Yes, well I haven't been hired yet, but I've had an interview at Caltech to assist in research on hydroponics and experimental agricultural practices, and I have an interview tomorrow with NOAA that one of my professors from Montana got me,"

"Sounds promising," Charlie said honestly, "What exactly are you hoping to do, anyway?"

"I mean, I wanted to save the planet," she said looking at her hands, "but I realize now that it's a bit cliché and not exactly possible; so I focused on sustainable agriculture and water management."

Will smiled to himself, and no one except Jane noticed.

"Lizzie has always been a tree-hugger," Jane smiled as she looked back at Charlie, "remember, when you camped out in that fir tree just so the construction wouldn't cut it down," Lizzie's face turned a bright shade of red, "she was only fifteen." Jane told Charlie and Will, who both laughed.

"They were going to put a bank there!" She tried to defend herself, "it was important to the ecosystem, and honestly, did Helena need another bank?"

Will and Charlie were both laughing, "how long were you up there?" Charlie asked her.

Lizzie turned even redder before Jane answered, "only two days before our father made her come down, the police got involved and everything,"

"I would've stayed up there longer," Lizzie told her sister in a weak voice.

"Yes, Lizzie, I believe you," Jane said lovingly, "but do you remember how long it took to get all the bits of fir needles out of your hair, because I remember three days of screaming as mom tried to brush it out."

"I'm tenderheaded..." Lizzie looked at her hands.

Will Darcy was intrigued. Being in the "old money" circle since he was an infant made him grow accustomed to meeting a certain type of person; usually sophisticated, educated, and never would camp out in trees to prevent someone from cutting it down. Lizzie Bennet was completely new, and he had never wanted to know so much about another person before knowing her. Beyond all that, he was confused by his own regard for this person who was pretty much a stranger. And he intimidated her, glaring often at him, for an unknown reason, and always contradicting everything he said. Lizzie Bennet, he decided, was completely different.

The conversation suffered from the lack of talking, and everyone sat around uncomfortably as they waited for the waitress to come back.

"So, Will," Charlie began timidly, "how's your sister doing?"

"Oh, Gigi," his face lit up with adoration, "she's a senior at Cornell now, pre-med, she's looking at Johns Hopkins or Northwestern for med school," he said, voice brimming with pride for his sister.

"Wow, what kind of doctor does she want to be?" Jane asked Will.

"She likes neuroscience the most, but she hasn't decided," he said, smiling to himself, he was proud of her, but ultimately, jealous of her freedom in choosing a career.

As he finished talking about her future at med school, Stephanie returned with their drinks and took their food order. The rest of the evening went smoothly for Charlie and Jane, both of which promised each other another date (both of them hoping it would be without their extraneous friend), and for Lizzie she decided that she hated Will Darcy more than when she had first met him. Maybe it was because he kept looking at her without expression that kept her on edge. Maybe it was because she clandestinely found him attractive, and needed extra motivation to keep her hatred fresh. Either way, she was determined never to see him again unless it was of the utmost importance (which to her, meant Jane). For Darcy, he vowed to himself that he would end his bud of attraction toward her, she was not the type of girl he was into, or the type of girl he was expected to be with. He looked at her one final time before Charlie and Will left, and felt all the potential energy of a relationship that could have been, and decided never to think of her again.

* * *

The next morning, Lizzie was making her usual cup of coffee as Jane sat on the kitchen counter, thumbing through her emails on her phone.

"Oh, I got an email from Caroline," she said in surprise.

"Who?" Lizzie asked, uninterested.

Jane looked up at her sister, who was staring longingly into her cup of coffee as she let it cool down.

"Charlie's sister"

Lizzie grumbled at this, "what did she say?"

Jane clicked on the email and skimmed the contents quickly before replying, "She's inviting me to dinner at her brother's place," Lizzie looked up questioningly, "Apparently, she is staying with Charlie and Will until her house is finished with renovations,"

Lizzie sipped the coffee cautiously, before scrunching up her face in pain as it burned her tongue.

"She'll probably want to go partying with you afterwards," Lizzie said as she recovered and her sister shook her head and laughed silently, "No, I'm serious, it'll be like ritzy clubs and stuff, but she is definitely the party type, so I recommend going prepared,"

"Well, she did plan it for next Saturday," Jane added, looking at her sister, "Do you think I should go?"

"Yeah, Janey," Lizzie sat the cup on the counter, "but you have to promise to bring back some of their delicious food, okay?"

Jane laughed again, "Okay, I promise," she paused for a moment, "Have you heard back from any of your interviews?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note:** _Hey, so I decided to go ahead an update again because I've been on fall break and I have a lot of free time. Anyway, I'm not really happy with this chapter, and I'll probably revise it. So, thank you to everyone who followed and favorited; I really appreciate it! I'm not really sure where this should go, I mean, obviously I'm going to stick with the original, but I have no plans right now of what direction to take this, so any suggestions are welcome! Finally, please review and thank you for reading!_

* * *

Chapter Four

Lizzie was woken up by the annoyingly loud jingle of her ringtone, and the sound of her vibrating phone on the coffee table. She had been sleeping on Jane's couch until she could find a place of her own, and didn't even realize that Jane hadn't returned from her night out with Caroline Bingley. She rolled over, and slung her arm out to pick up her phone. It was Jane's number calling, but she was calling at nearly 4 a.m.

"Jane, what's wrong? Why are you calling me so early?" She began, wiping the sleep out of her eye. Her mind was reeling from all the possible and horrific things that could've happened earlier that night.

"Hi, Elizabeth?" A familiar, sugar-coated voice sounded, "It's Caroline, I just got back to my brother's house with your sister. We went out clubbing, a bit, and well, your sister drank a little too much..." Lizzie relaxed, laying back down on the couch as Caroline continued, "anyway, she passed out in the car, and I don't know where she lives, so I'm letting her crash at my place for the night, okay?"

Lizzie bolted up again, "I can give you our address, you can drop her off, it's no big deal."

"Nonsense," Caroline replied, "we're almost back to Charlie's house, anyway, you can come pick her up in the morning." And with that Caroline hung up.

Lizzie slumped back down, agitated from being woken up at such an ungodly hour. _Crap,_ she thought to herself, _Jane took the car to Charlie's house last night._ Hungover Jane would be in no shape to drive, she decided. She groaned loudly before drifting off into sleep.

* * *

"What kind of girl drinks so much?" Caroline said to her brother and his friend, as she stirred in the cream of her coffee, despite it being only eight in the morning, she was already fully dressed, hair done, and makeup applied.

"Caroline, be nice, you're the one who made her go out anyway," Charlie replied, nursing his own cup of coffee.

Caroline ignored him, "And when she was drunk, well you know how drunks are, it's like talking to someone who has ingested truth serum, well, she told me all about her family," Charlie shot her a stinging glance, but she was egged on by Darcy's curious expression, "apparently, their drowning in debt from Lizzie's grad school, and trying to pay for their other daughters to go to college, too, and Jane's been trying to help them, but she said they refuse everytime." She scoffed, "it's not like Jane is rolling in money, she's an _artist,"_

"Graphic designer," Charlie corrected, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Anyway," Caroline ignored him again and continued looking at Darcy, "she must have been super stressed to make her drink so much...I guess having Lizzie at home isn't helping,"

Charlie was about to defend the girl still in Caroline's self-proclaimed guest room, sleeping when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Darcy said hurriedly, trying to escape from Caroline, even for just a moment. He turned to set his coffee town and left the kitchen where the siblings sat in continued silence.

"Hey, it's a little early to be selling Girl Scout Cook-" he began.

"Shut up, I'm here for my sister,"

Lizzie stood in front of him on the small front porch, hair even more frazzled than usual, her face bright red from exercising. He noticed behind her, on the ground there was a bike laid on its side. He was at a loss for words. Her breathing was still heavy as she sighed and slid her hands over her hair, as if to calm it.

"Okay, are you going to let me in or not," she said, exasperated. She crossed her arms over her chest, and shifted her weight to her right foot as Darcy just stared, bewildered.

"Who is it, Will?" A woman's voice called from inside, as Caroline walked up to him, standing in the doorway.

"Oh, _Elizabeth,"_ she said, trying her best to sound happy, "how wonderful it is—wait, did you _walk_ here?"

"Biked," Lizzie corrected, gesturing to the bicycle laying haphazardly by the driveway.

"So you live close..." Caroline began, surprised that an unemployed environmentalist and a graphic designer could afford downtown LA.

Lizzie laughed at this, "Hell no, we can't afford this," she remarked, as if reading Caroline's mind, "we live near the South Park neighborhood,"

Both of their mouths fell open, "that's seven miles, if not more," Darcy said, finally able to properly articulate after being shell-shocked from Lizzie's sudden appearance.

"Yeah, well, I need to pick up Jane and I didn't have a car so..." She explained looking back at the bike, it was a piece of junk. Lizzie had discovered on the way to Charlie's extraordinarily nice townhouse, that the bike's gears were broken, so she was perpetually stuck in fifth gear. In addition to the gears, the seat was loose and the handlebars were twisted.

Caroline was still recovering from her own shock, she couldn't imagine ride a bike that wasn't in her spin class, when Charlie decided to join them.

"What is taking you two so long?" He asked, seeing the person standing on the front porch, "Oh, hey, Lizzie, Jane is still sleeping her hangover off,"

"Oh," her shoulders sunk.

"I mean, you can join us while you wait," he offered politely. Caroline and Darcy looked at Charlie in equal surprise and disapproval.

"Uh, okay," she said cautiously, "if you're sure I'm not bothering you,"

"No, of course not," Charlie gently pushed Darcy and Caroline out of the door so Lizzie could walk in.

"Your place is amazing," she observed, walking from the foyer into the kitchen. The room was large and was connected to the living room. Everything seemed new and expensive. Lizzie felt like a child going into a glassware store, and being told continuously by her parents not to touch anything so she wouldn't break it.

Charlie shrugged, "It's alright, I guess,"

"Are you two normally here?" Lizzie asked suddenly, turning to Darcy and Caroline who were trailing behind them.

"My house is also downtown, but I'm having renovations done," Caroline replied coolly, "so I'm staying with Charlie until they're done."

Lizzie nodded, "Oh, yeah, Jane told me that," she looked at Darcy.

He coughed, "Yeah, I live out in San Clemente, but my job in here in the city, so I usually stay with Charlie," he tried his best to not seem nervous in front of her.

He wasn't quite sure why he felt nervous in front of Lizzie Bennet, but something about her general existence made him feel like he was a teenager all over again.

"Interesting," she told Darcy, they both felt like it wasn't very true, "Sorry, do you mind if I see my sister," she added quickly, facing Charlie.

"Sure, no problem"

* * *

In the few weeks that the Darcy-Bingley party had been acquainted with the Bennet sisters, Jane and Charlie became instantly attracted to one another. They suffered through an awkward first dinner, in which they both made the humiliating mistake to bring their best friend, one of which happened to fervently dislike the other. Since then, they had been on "real" dates, where Darcy and Lizzie were not present to get into arguments.

Jane was really convinced that they would start dating, and was really happy when Caroline invited her for a "girl's night out". But she had let the stress of living on a freelance artist's salary, and the anxiety of dwindling work get to her, and had far too many shots than she should've. She couldn't quite remember what she had told Caroline, but she remembered telling her about her family's financial troubles, and how her father refused to tell Lizzie so she wouldn't worry. After that it was all a blur. Until she heard her sister's voice.

"Janey," Lizzie pleaded, "please wake up, I don't want to be stuck with these people all day,"

Jane groaned unintelligibly but Lizzie thought it sounded like, "Leave me alone,"

"C'mon," Lizzie poked her sister's shoulder, "I'll drive you home and you can hole up in your room for the rest of the day,"

Then Jane remembered.

She remembered passing out on the ground outside the club. Caroline got some strangers to help her into the backseat of her car. She remembered gaining consciousness as the strangers groped her ass while they lifted her into the car, she was too drunk to protest. She soon fell asleep in the backseat, to the sound of Caroline talking on the phone.

All of a sudden, Jane sat upright in the bed, then soon gripped her head in agony.

"Oww..." She complained, fully realizing the magnitude of her hangover, and let her body fall back onto the mattress, "Lizzie," she mustered.

"Yeah?"

"Can you get me some Advil?"

"Yeah,"

* * *

Lizzie glanced down at her watch, 10:30, she had been at Charlie's house for three hours, and Jane was nowhere close to being ready to leave. Between the pain and her extreme embarrassment, Lizzie wasn't sure she would ever be ready. Charlie offered to let her sleep it off, and Caroline left to check on her renovations. Lizzie now sat in the living room, trying to occupy herself, as Darcy sat idly in front of his computer and Charlie walked around the house doing various chores.

"Do you need any help?" Lizzie asked, desperately hoping Charlie would give her something to do while she waited.

Charlie smiled, "No, thank you, Lizzie, for offering again,"

She sunk back into the sofa, caught Darcy looking at her, then both quickly looked away. She wasn't sure why he looked at her unless it was to decide on her most obvious flaw. His presence in any situation bothered her; at the party, the dinner date with Charlie, and now. He stared at her, completely expressionless, and if it weren't for his comments at the party where they first met, she would've thought he liked her. But even the thought of Will Darcy liking her made her laugh bitterly.

Will Darcy was trying his best to look busy; he had finished his work an hour and a half ago, and decided pretending to work was better than trying at conversation with Lizzie. He flitted between articles from US Today's website, as he continually glanced at Lizzie over the top of his laptop screen. He decided he liked looking at her, but couldn't decide why. He knew that this infatuation would be short lived, and he would be glad when it was over, but at the present moment, he settled for agreeing that he maybe, perhaps, slightly, possibly had some feelings for Lizzie Bennet. However, he decided that she wouldn't know about them, and he would try to overcome them as soon as possible, but until then, he just pretended to read articles and tried to figure her out.

* * *

By the time lunch rolled around, Jane was feeling a lot better. Thanks to her sister constantly coming into her room to refill her water, she was hydrated and the advil had kicked in. She had tried to convince Charlie to let Lizzie drive her home, but he insisted they should have lunch first.

Jane didn't exactly want to do anything except go home and sleep, but she felt she should try to redeem herself in Charlie's eyes. She didn't want him to think she was the kind of girl who got drunk often. Mostly because she wasn't, and she wanted Charlie to have a good opinion of her.

Lizzie was less than happy to stay an extra hour or so at Charlie's house. She had braved nearly four hours of dead silence from Darcy, only provoked by Charlie's occasional mocking comment.

They sat on the ground around a low coffee table, with two medium sized pizzas they had ordered.

"Well, let's dig in," Charlie began to open the boxes.

Everyone was hungry enough to suspend conversation for most of the meal; too busy trying to eat their slices quickly so they could get more before the others did.

By the time that they were done, little more than five words had been spoken between the four throughout the entire duration of their meal.

"Well, we should be heading home, " Jane began, and Lizzie silently thanked her.

"Are you sure?" Charlie began, "You could stay."

"I would hate to impose, and I really need to rest before I have work tomorrow," she told him. Charlie simply nodded.

"Anyway," Lizzie interrupted, "As much as I've loved hanging out here all morning, I need to prep for some interviews tomorrow,"

They exchanged goodbyes outside, and Lizzie shoved her torn up bike in the back of Jane's beat up CRV. Darcy stayed in the living room, while Charlie stood on the porch, waving as they backed out of the driveway.

"Seriously, Will," Charlie said, entering the living room.

"What?"

"You didn't talk at all to Lizzie the entire time she was here," he sighed, "What's your problem?"

"She makes me nervous," Will told him honestly, and Charlie felt a wave of understanding wash over him.

"Oh, really," he arched one eyebrow.

* * *

"I hate him," Lizzie told Jane once they were driving back to their small apartment, "he's so-"

"Who?"

"Will Darcy," Lizzie replied, grinding her teeth together.

"Lizzie, please," Jane said with her eyes closed, "try to be nice to him; he likes you," Lizzie laughed loudly, and Jane opened her eyes in response, "No, I'm serious he always looks at you."

"That's only because he is trying to find my faults,"

"Well then, why does he smile whenever you talk,"

"Because he is sick and twisted and enjoys picking apart everything I say," Lizzie retorted, agitated from a wasted Sunday morning.

Jane smiled to herself, and closed her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** _So, sorry this took so long to write. I've been swamped with college essays, so the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is write some more. Anyway, I really want to develop Bingley and Jane's relationship, which I did a bit here, and I'll do some next chapter I suppose. Actually, I'm thinking next chapter won't really have much action, just some Darcy/Lizzie and Bingley/Jane relationship development. I also developed the character's backstory a bit, here, actually, I think I just did Darcy's. Anyway, this is becoming really difficult to write just because I don't know what to do with the story, so suggestions are welcome (PLEASE). Anyway, thanks for reading, and seriously, please please please please review! I will respond as soon as possible, but I need some feedback, I don't even know if you all are enjoying it or not, hopefully the former, but you can just write something short like "hey Hannah how's it goin'?" And then I'll be all "man, I'm great, thanks for asking!" Anyway, in conclusion, please enjoy and please review._

* * *

Chapter Five

Lizzie was certain someone had made a mistake. Or maybe it was a very elaborate prank. Either way, something was wrong. She had just got off the phone with the people from Caltech, and apparently she had a job now. A real job. A career. Jane, who was as excited for her sister as she possibly could be, demanded they go out to celebrate. They sat at a square table on the balcony of their favorite Mexican restaurant, each sipping on a margarita. The sun was setting, and the weather was perfect, marking the end of summer. Well, the end of September, but the weather in LA made the summer feel longer.

"Are you excited?" Jane asked, setting the heavy glass down.

"Of course I'm excited," Lizzie responded, "this is the first true step in my career."

"What are you researching?"

"Sustainable agriculture," Lizzie said, still in disbelief.

Jane smiled widely, "I'm so happy for you!"

"I'm happy for me, too" she laughed, raising her eyes to meet Jane's.

They both paused as they raised the margarita glass to their lips.

* * *

Will Darcy watched the sunset from his office perched at the top floor of his company's office building. He stretched and rolled his head around before closing up his final documents. He congratulated himself on a successful deal with Google that had occurred earlier that day, and he couldn't wait to head home for the weekend. His sister was driving down from San Francisco, where she was staying with friends, to spend her final week before school with him.

As he was taking the elevator down, he realized that he had barely seen Gigi all summer, and he was looking forward to her visit even more. He had emailed her about Charlie's new love interest, and her strangely intriguing sister; but most conversations were short, and usually revolved around some drama among the girls Gigi was friends with.

Opening the door onto the street, he was greeted by the refreshing, and perfect late-summer-early-fall California temperature. And then he immediately halted when he saw two familiar strangers sitting at the Mexican restaurant across the street. The high rise across the street was another business, but Will wasn't quite sure what it was, but on the ground level they had a fantastic Mexican restaurant that he often ate at for lunch. In the outside area sat Jane and Lizzie chatting, and sipping margaritas. He thought Lizzie looked incredibly beautiful in the fading light, but then he begrudgingly admitted that he thought she looked beautiful in every light. He stared for what seemed like an eternity before Jane caught his eye, smiled and waved.

* * *

"Is that Will?" Jane said abruptly changing their conversation. She looked at someone across the street, and then waved.

"Will...Darcy?" Lizzie asked, turning her head to follow Jane's eyes. She tried very hard to mask the expression of horror that she felt.

Will just stood there, completely frozen, until he somehow managed to find the strength to wave back. He was unsure of whether or not to go and talk to them, or just find his car and leave. The latter won out, and he simply walked away, somewhat mortified, and found his car parked on the street by the office building.

Lizzie turned back to Jane who was laughing to herself, "he's so weird, why does he always act like that?"

Jane shrugged, despite knowing the answer. Now that her and Charlie were "official" they were able to have proper one-on-one dates without speculation from their friends and family, and their conversation tended toward their better halves who seemed to hate each other. Charlie confided in Jane (under several promises from Jane that she wouldn't tell Lizzie) that Will had certain feelings for Lizzie, though Will denied it. Jane, who suspected some sort of attraction, was confused by his mannerism around her sister. He was always cold, and unfeeling; hardly the behavior of someone who wanted to get to know Lizzie better. Lizzie, as stubborn as ever, responded in snarky, sarcastic comments that did little to coax better behavior from Will, instead he would become more reserved. Jane often noticed that after a particular dig from Lizzie he would brood off in a corner, before gaining enough confidence to offer his opinion again, and with any amount of luck, Lizzie would keep her mouth shut. Her and Charlie often laughed at both of their behavior, and Charlie tried to sneak in some of Jane's advice to Will, without seeming too obvious. "Jane told me that she loves a guy dressed in royal blue," Charlie would gesture to a royal blue shirt. "That's hardly relevant, Charlie," Will would reply, and later try and hide the blue shirt from his friend. Somehow, one of the main focuses of Charlie and Jane's relationship was their friends. Jane never told Lizzie about giving Charlie tips to give to Will. However, she did like to see the fruit of their work. When Will wore a _certain_ blue shirt, and Lizzie had a _certain_ look in her eyes, Jane knew that her advice was paying off. "That shirt looks good on him, right, Lizzie?" Jane would ask. "That's hardly relevant, Jane," she would reply, and later try and hide her feeling of attraction from herself by reprimanding him everytime he spoke. Charlie and Jane would shrug, but continue to play their roles as passive gods, trying to create a romance that, from the looks of it, would never happen.

"I think he's just nervous around you," Jane finally replied, "I mean, you do criticize him every chance you get,"

Lizzie glanced at her sister, "Okay, first of all, does he not deserve it, the man said I was 'vile' if I remember correctly. And second, I am only calling him out on his bullshit, I mean, the whole spiel about a 'truly put together woman', seriously, how can his standard be so high? No woman on this planet has all the accomplishments that he listed-"

"Yes, I know, you've told me," Jane cut her off, exasperated. They both paused and sipped their margaritas, "I guess he works here, then,"

"I don't see why it matters," Lizzie began, "Oh, wait, yes I do! Now, I know to avoid this restaurant for the rest of my life."

"Lizzie," Jane sighed at her sister, "this is our favorite Mexican place, we're not going to avoid it just because Will Darcy works near here,"

"You doubt my determination?"

"Not at all," Jane replied, "I fully believe that you have every intention of never coming back to this place, which, by the way, has the best guacamole in town, because you dislike-"

"Hate," Lizzie quickly corrected.

"Sorry, because you hate the guy who works near here. It's not exactly the best way to deal with things you dislike...sorry, things you 'hate'" Jane finished, placing her hands under her chin and looking at her sister.

"The 'best' way to deal with things is subjective," Lizzie finally said, looking over her margarita, "Some people think natural gas is the 'best' way to solve our foreign oil problem,"

"And, is it not?" Jane asked, half-heartedly.

Lizzie looked aghast, "Jane! How could you say something like that? Of course it's not!" Lizzie began lecturing her sister, "fracking has led to the creation of unnatural fault lines, which has resulted in stark increases of seismic activity. I mean, Oklahoma started having earthquake only a few months after fracking began in the state; it's not a coincidence, fault lines don't just 'appear'"

"Okay, okay," Jane leaned back in the chair, "I see your passionate, and I'm sorry I asked."

Lizzie was about to say something when their food finally arrived. Jane commented on the amount of jalapeños Lizzie put on her food, Lizzie just lightly threw a slice of the spicy pepper at her.

* * *

"I saw Jane and Lizzie today, eating at that Mexican place, you know, across from my office building," Will told Charlie over the phone as he drove to his house in San Clemente.

"And how are they?" Charlie said, mildly interested, because he had a lunch date with Jane the next day.

"I mean, I didn't talk to them, but from across the street they seemed fine," he turned to get off the exit to the beach. Nighttime was the best time to go to the beach, Will thought, and every time he had a chance, he would sit on the shore and watch the dark waves roll onto the sand.

"Why didn't you talk to them? We're pretty good friends at this point, I mean, Jane and I are going steady, I think you could've gone and talked to them,"

"It didn't seem right," Will explained honestly, "You may be close to them, but I hardly know them,"

"Will, they came to your birthday party,"

"Because _you_ invited them,"

"Because we're all _friends_ ," Charlie sighed audibly into the phone, "Anyway, am I going to get to see Gigi at all this week, or is it special sibling bonding time? You know, it's not normal for two siblings to be as close as you two are, it's weird."

"It's what happens when your parents die when you're young," Will paused, not really meaning to say that out loud, "but you can come visit us in San Clemente this weekend, just, please, don't bring Caroline,"

"Fair enough," Charlie said, feeling slightly guilty for questioning Will's relationship with his sister, Gigi was only in high school when their parents died in a freak car accident involving a drunk driver, and Will was only a sophomore in undergraduate school. He wanted to go to med school, but quickly changed his major to computer science when he realized he would have to fill his father's position. He also had to fill his parents' position as Gigi's guardian, and the two were now inseparable, "I'll talk to you later about that potential visit to San Clemente; if I don't make it, tell Gigi I said hi!"

"Alright, talk to you later," Will said and then hung up the phone as he pulled up to an empty parking lot on the beach. He sighed heavily as he stepped out of the car.

He slid his shoes off, and stuff the socks inside them. He rolled up his slacks so they were at his knees, and he walked into the ocean until the water was just under the rolled up fabric. He stood silently for awhile, he felt childish because he wished his parents were here, so they could give him advice. Advice on how to run the company, and what to do with his future, how to help Gigi, and about what to do about this very stubborn girl who, Will decided, was the most confusing person he had ever met. He liked to imagine that his mother and her would've gotten along very well, both passionate about the environment and both sarcastic. His father, he wasn't quite sure. Will was like his father in many ways, very serious and reserved, and he imagined Lizzie's sarcasm would have put him off, or maybe he would've liked it, the way he liked his mother's. Gigi was supposed to be home soon, but he couldn't tear himself away from the ocean. It seemed to hold answers, but was reluctant to give them away.

Eventually, he made himself leave, and got back into his car. He decided not to put his shoes on, but instead, drive barefoot with his damp, sand-covered feet. He would clean the car tomorrow. This was the first time in his life that he was as lost as he was the time his parents died. He wasn't sure what made him feel this way, but he would talk it over with his sister. Gigi knew how to tell him exactly what would make him feel better.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Hey, so here's another update. So, I'm not too happy with this chapter, I feel like a put too much into a rather short amount of time (your thoughts?) but I didn't know how else to do it. I kind of imagine Charlie as this attractive nerdy hipster type but I'm not sure if that comes off at all, I just talk about his glasses occasionally, haha. Anyway, please review and thanks for reading!

* * *

Chapter Six

Jane and Charlie had been dating for a little less than two months, and Jane was pretty convinced they both were in it for the long run. Lizzie agreed wholeheartedly.

"Lizzie, I've dated guys before, but it didn't feel like this," she confided in her sister, sitting next to her on the couch while they enjoyed their morning coffee.

"Jane, that's good," Lizzie folded her legs underneath herself on the couch, "that means it's real."

"I'm just scared that he doesn't feel as serious as I do,"

"Are you crazy? Jane he adores you, I've met all your other boyfriends and none of them looks at you like he does." Lizzie responded honestly. Jane's boyfriends had varied from perfect looking but obnoxious frat boys to nerdy and socially-awkward guys from her college study group. They all liked looking at Jane, but none of them seemed to like her as a person quite as much. Lizzie was quick to pick up that all of them viewed her sister solely as an ornament. However, Charlie didn't seem to set off any alarms, and he looked at her sister like her eyes held the stars.

"Really?" Jane said, wide-eyed, "Lizzie, you always tell me when my boyfriends are just using me, I need you to be honest."

Lizzie picked up her mug of coffee off the table, "Jane, I am being completely honest when I say that Charlie is completely smitten with you,"

Jane smiled and looked down.

* * *

"I'm just saying you should consider it, Charlie," Will Darcy said, leaning back on the couch in the living room that overlooked the Californian coast.

Charlie had driven down to San Clemente for the day, thankfully leaving Caroline in the city, to visit with Gigi before she went back to Ithaca.

"Don't be ridiculous, Will," Charlie paced in front of large windows that took full advantage of the view, "I've never felt this way about a girl before,"

"That's first of all, not true," Will sighed, "you're always quick to fall into love with any girl that pays you enough attention." Charlie stared angrily at his friend, pushing the glasses up his nose and ruffling his light brown hair, "I grant you, Jane is the prettiest, by far."

"Will, I'm serious, this is different, I mean-" Charlie was cut off by Gigi walking into the room.

"What are you two up to?" She asked, not noticing Charlie's stressed expression, "I vote we go to the beach."

"Great idea," Charlie responded quickly, desperately wanting to end his conversation with Will.

Charlie had been a nervous-wreck meeting his roommate for the first time. Normally, he was pretty confident, but he was worried that his roommate would be a party-animal and always come home at obscene hours, ruining Charlie's plans for hardcore studying. Will had proven not to be the feared party-animal, but rather a quiet pre-med student, dreaming of "doctors without borders". Charlie began in undergraduate as a civil engineer, but soon changed to bio-engineering, sharing Will's dream of helping people, through designing prosthetic limbs. He had been there for Will sophomore year when his parents died. He watched someone who was a compassionate, shy human begin to turn into a reserved, pessimistic computer science major; something he knew Will hated. And as the college freshmen they were, Will and Charlie experimented with their fair share of alcohol at the occasional party. However, after his parents died from a drunk driver, Will never touched alcohol again. Charlie loved the person who had grown to be his best friend, and he tried very hard to keep him on the pre-med track, but Will insisted that changing his major was what he wanted. Charlie was fairly certain that 'he' referred to Will's late father. Charlie eventually went to MIT for graduate school, and was disappointed to leave Will in California to go to Stanford for his own graduate degree. Eventually, upon Charlie's graduation, he was offered many jobs at hospitals across the country, he chose the one where he could live near his friend, who had seemed to worsen through the course of graduate school. Will hated computer science, and writing a thesis on it had caused him to finally snap into a grumpy, self-loathing person. The only one who seemed to make him happy was his younger sister.

Over their many years of friendship they grown to greatly respect one another's opinion. Will at first thought Charlie was a typical smart, confident, and attractive full-package deal that had women swooning in his presence. He proved to be all those things but in a caring and naturally easygoing package, and thankfully with limited women-swooning.

Charlie was fairly certain that Jane was _the one,_ and he wanted his friend's opinion. Unfortunately, Will Darcy was skeptical, and thought Jane was pretty indifferent toward Charlie. She had a very calm outward appearance, and seemed to enjoy Charlie's company, but he was doubtful of the depth of her devotion for his friend.

"Do you really think that she doesn't feel the same way?" Charlie asked, the question occupying his every thought.

"Who?" Gigi asked curiously.

"This girl Charlie's been seeing," Will replied calmly, "and yes, Charlie, she has you completely wrapped around her finger. Which is convenient given your salary compared to hers." Gigi looked at her brother curiously, "She's an artist."

"How can you say that?" Charlie was visibly angry, "she has a steady job, and it's not her fault that it doesn't pay as much as mine, besides, we never talk about those kinds of things. She's not a gold-digger, Will."

Gigi walked ahead of Will and Charlie, escaping their conversation that was bordering on an argument.

"You don't know that, Charlie," Will retorted, "you've known her for two months, and have only met her sister, you don't know what the rest of the family is like."

"Like her family will somehow lessen my regard for her," Charlie scoffed.

"It might," Will replied, giving Charlie a sideways glance.

Charlie was silent, carefully considering his friend's advice. As much as he disliked it, he valued Will's opinion.

"I'll talk to Jane about what our relationship means,"

Will doubted that was a good idea.

* * *

"Hey, Lizzie is that you?" A familiar face said to Lizzie as she was walking onto the Caltech campus.

"Charlotte?" Lizzie replied, surprised.

Lizzie and Charlotte had been friends since childhood, roommates in undergraduate school, and roommates (along with two others) in graduate school. Charlotte had moved to Pasadena to complete her Ph.D. in neurobiology. Charlotte was amazingly brilliant, Lizzie always thought, and to top it off, she was an incredibly hard worker.

"Hey, I haven't seen you in forever!" Charlotte closed in to engulf Lizzie in a hug, "I heard you got a job here, how are you liking it?"

"I'm only on my third day, but so far it seems awesome," Lizzie replied, her excitement visible.

They caught up, and talked about Lizzie's new job, and Charlotte's recent engagement to a fellow Ph.D. candidate.

"He's great, you'll love him," Charlotte promised, "he's getting a doctorate in economics. You should meet him, are you free for lunch today?"

"Yeah, of course," Lizzie responded, " I'd love to meet him. What's his name?"

"Ricky Collins," Charlotte smiled, "he has had an internship with the de Bourgh investment group, and they promised to hire him once he completed his dissertation."

"Wow, the Fortune 500 company? That's promising." Lizzie speculated that Charlotte was more interested in his potential wealth than the man himself, but she promised not to judge until she saw him for herself. Charlotte hadn't always been materialistic, but her personality solidified in high school when she firmly decided to earn a doctorate, not for her interest in the subject, but for the potential money it could create for her. Lizzie wondered if the recent engagement wasn't somehow related.

* * *

"Oh, Jane," Lizzie ranted at the end of her day, "he's the most ridiculous human being you'd ever meet. Do you know what he told me?" Jane shook her head, "He told me that my interest in environmental science has limited monetary outcome, you don't tell people that when you first meet them."

"Lizzie, I'm sure he was just trying to be nice," Jane added in earnest.

"You always think the best of people," Lizzie flung herself onto the couch, "he's awful, how can Charlotte even consider marrying him."

Jane patted her sister's head, and Lizzie grumbled loudly into the pillow.

* * *

"Excuse me," a voice sounded behind Lizzie, "do you know how to get to Santa Monica pier from here?"

Lizzie turned to see an attractive man, with a nervous expression on his face. He had gorgeous blue eyes, and blonde hair that covered the tops of his ears, his smile was easy, and his eyes held a soft expression that echoed friendliness.

"I just moved here, but I know you're a long way from the Santa Monica pier, buddy,"

He sighed, "Yeah, I used to live here when I was younger, but it's changed a lot," he looked up at her, "I'm an actor, and I figured while I waste my youth away waiting for my _big break_ I might as well see some of the sights that I never appreciated when I was a child."

Lizzie laughed, "I'm sure you'll get your big break."

He smiled at her, "I'm George, by the way," he extended his hand to her.

"Lizzie," she smiled, taking his hand, "I can't get you the Santa Monica pier, but I can invite you to get coffee with me,"

"That would me lovely," he replied, smiling widely at her.

They arrived at the local coffee store a few minutes later. Lizzie was extremely happy that her new friend was as eager to talk as she was. They discussed many different topics ranging from Lizzie's disgust with Charlotte's fiancé to George's aspirations of being an actor.

"So what's your story?" He asked Lizzie, smiling flirtatiously.

"My story?" George nodded, "Well, I was born and raised in Helena, Montana with four sisters. Went to the University of Montana in Missoula, which isn't too far from where I live. I recently finished grad school with a degree in environmental science." George Wickham looked at Lizzie with an expression of earnest interest, "what about you?" Lizzie added.

George sat back in the chair and ran his hand through his hair, "Just your typical story about being treated terribly by your typical rich people," Lizzie was intrigued, and lifted her eyebrow in questioning, "my father and his business partner started a technology company together, unfortunately my own father died before he could see the company succeed. His business partner took me in, and promised to help me get an education. His son and I were pretty close, and went to UCLA together. We grew apart in college, especially after his father died in a car accident. It was in our sophomore year, anyway, his father wrote in his will that he wanted his son to continue to use his father's wealth for my college, and eventually, if I wanted to, graduate school. Unfortunately, his son is a bitter human being, and frankly denied to pay my tuition," Lizzie's mouth dropped, "I had to drop out, and I moved in with a friend from high school who went to school in Boston. After crashing on their couch for awhile, I moved to New York and tried my luck as an actor there, after nothing happened the entire time I was there, I decided to move back out here and test the waters."

Lizzie's mouth was still hanging open, "What kind of asshole would do that?"

George laughed, "Well, you haven't met Will Darcy then,"

Lizzie paused, "Will...Darcy?"

"Uh, yeah, do you know him?"

Lizzie was shocked, "You mean, _Will Darcy_ denied to pay for your tuition after his father died?" George nodded, "Wow, I knew he was a complete jerk, but I didn't think he could be so...horrible, especially to a childhood friend."

George shrugged, "My theory is that he was jealous of me, because his father, well, his father doted on me a bit more than on him, anyway, how do you know him?"

"My sister is dating his friend..." Lizzie explained, "you know the first time I met him, he told his friend that I was vile."

"Well, he would be completely wrong," George replied, "you are quite wonderful."

Lizzie looked at him, blushed, and quickly looked away, "I'm so disgusted with his arrogance, he is always looking down on my sister and me,"

"He has a tendency to be a condescending prick,"

Lizzie smiled, "Truer words have never been said."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Okay, first of all, I am so sorry for the lateness of this update. I have been completely swamped with schoolwork. I had written out most of this chapter before hand and today I wanted to put the finishing touched on it. Unfortunately my computer deleted the file, so I started from scratch today. So that's why I separated chapter seven into two parts, the other one will be uploaded in the next few days. I just wanted to get an update out there so y'all knew I was working. I actually have a plan for the whole thing so I do hope to finish it. Anyway, this is part one. I decided to give Caroline a bit of a backstory, and let me know what you think. Next chapter will focus on Jane and Bingley, and the upcoming Collins/Charlotte wedding. Anyway thank you so much for the reviews! It really means a lot (seriously I grin stupidly at my screen at every single one). I hope you enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: Part One**

Jane felt her cell phone buzzing in her pocket, and reached into her jeans to answer it. The caller ID showed that it was Charlie calling her. Immediately, she stopped her work and turned in her chair as she pressed the phone to her ear.

"Charlie?"

"Oh, hey, Jane," Charlie began, haphazardly playing with some scattered pens on his on desk.

"Hi," Jane smiled; she had never been in a relationship that made her this happy before, "how's your day been?"

"Oh, good," he replied mildly, "I was calling because my sister just texted me to tell me about a birthday party she's throwing for me this weekend. I was wondering if you wanted to go?"

"When is it? I don't think I have any plans this weekend."

"It's this Saturday, you can come over anytime, but I think Caroline told everyone it was going to start at eight. And you can bring Lizzie, of course," he added.

"Sounds good, should I bring…" Jane began but could sense her voice being drowned by a voice of someone else on the other end, something about lab reports.

"Oh, sorry Jane, I was just talking to one of the doctors, I have to go, but I'll talk to you later," and with that he hung up.

Jane sighed quietly while she spun her chair back to her computer. After staring blankly at the screen for a few minutes she picked up her phone again and dialed in Lizzie's number.

* * *

"Jane please don't make me go," Lizzie was still donning her pajamas and despite Jane wanting to leave in fifteen minutes, had not showered.

"You wouldn't make me go alone with all those strangers,"

"Charlie isn't a stranger, and based on past behavior I don't think he's going to let you go unattended all evening," Lizzie sat crisscrossed on the couch.

"Lizzie, he invited you and it would be rude for you not to go," Jane sat beside her, desperately wanting to have someone at this party that she knew besides Charlie, "please."

Falling victim to her sister's pleas was commonplace for Lizzie, and this was no exception. Her sister was simply the sweetest person on the face of the Earth, and Lizzie wanted nothing more than to make her happy.

"Fine," she caved, and Jane smiled, "but when I decide when it's time to go home,"

"Then you're the designated driver,"

"Fair enough,"

* * *

"Caroline this party is ridiculous," Charlie sat sadly on the couch surrounded by people who he was certain didn't really like him.

"Charlie, please," Caroline sipped champagne from a crystal glass, "just because your girlfriend isn't here yet doesn't mean that the party sucks, just the opposite, I'd say,"

Charlie sighed and leaned back on the couch; Caroline took another sip of champagne before locating Will Darcy and promptly left her brother to coax his friend into some alcohol.

"Will, have some champagne," she thrust a full glass in his direction.

"No, thank you," he said stiffly, "I don't drink,"

"Ever?"

"Never." He confirmed.

"How am I going to get you to finally kiss me, then?" she flirted, mildly under the influence, and instantly regretted what she said when she saw his reaction. Pained confusion crossed his face.

"Excuse me?" he almost scoffed. Was her plan really to get him drunk enough to kiss her? It almost seemed too conniving to be Caroline.

"Just a joke, Will," Caroline smiled, hiding her somewhat hurt expression, "but seriously, drink. It's a party and you're not driving later."

Caroline had wanted Will to want her since Charlie brought him home Christmas of his freshman year. She was still in high school, but she was determined to go to UCLA to be with him. Once she graduated and went to his school, she was certain that he would finally see her as a love interest, but Will was dating some perfect brunette pre-med student, and she was just a freshman marketing major. Eventually they broke up when he went to Stanford and she went to some fancy medical school that Caroline didn't remember, but she was no longer able to see him. He had never shown any interest, but she couldn't imagine her life without her longing for him. And now he was close again, and she was determined to make him love her. Then Lizzie Bennet ruined her plans; she didn't think Will was even aware of it yet, but he stared at her constantly, and brought her up in conversations constantly, and Caroline was certain that if she was telepathic, he would think of her constantly.

"I just don't enjoy feeling like I'm not in control, and I would appreciate it if you would respect my choices," he said before abandoning Caroline in the middle of the living room with two glasses of champagne.

Almost as soon as he had left, another man stood where Will had just been standing.

"Hey, you're hot," he slurred, clearly drunk, "wanna get outta here?"

Caroline weighed her options, "fuck off," she replied as slid past him to go outside.

Caroline was quickly sobered in the fresh air, and located her car in the dim streetlight. When someone grabbed her wrist.

"You bitch, you can't just walk away from me," the same intoxicated man from earlier said as he pulled her to face him.

"Let go of me," she replied coolly.

"Like hell I am," he smiled and breathed on her neck, "You're going to apologize to me,"

"Let go of me!" she repeated, this time much louder and with a sense of urgency.

He laughed into her neck, before a force knocked him from her, and he stumbled to the ground. Caroline looked over to see Lizzie, with a concerned Jane standing a little bit behind her.

"Caroline are you ok?" Lizzie asked immediately, "I heard you shout, and I just shoved him off you, I hope I didn't come too late,"

Despite the two not liking each other since the earliest moment of knowing each other, Caroline had never been so grateful for her existence, and Lizzie didn't want to subjugate anyone to harassment when she could stop it.

"You came just in time," she glanced at the man, now passed out from alcohol on the ground, "I cannot thank you enough,"

"Nah, it's no big deal," Lizzie looked back at Jane, "We'll walk you back inside, if that's alright."

"Actually, I'm just leaving," Caroline explained, remembering her embarrassment with Will, "but my brother is waiting for you two, so you should hurry up," she tried to laugh.

Lizzie and Jane shared skeptical glances, but decided not to press her. The said goodbye, and decided to leave the passed out man there on the ground. Caroline was alone again, and succumbed to her sadness and fear from the man's actions as she drove; tears fell without warning as she drove eight blocks to her newly redone apartment. She settled herself in her bed, and for the first time in her life, questioned the choices she had made.

* * *

"Have you seen my sister?" Lizzie asked Will, the only person she knew, and the only person left at the aftermath of the party. It was late, and Lizzie had wanted to go home for the past hour and a half, but could not find Jane anywhere in the house. She finally overcame her pride to ask Will for help in her endeavor, and she simply wanted him to stop watching her every time she walked into the living room.

"No, I haven't," he replied, "but I haven't seen Charlie in a while, so I suppose they're together,"

Lizzie sighed, "That's not helpful because I want to leave, but I can't leave Jane here,"

Will could not take his eyes off of Lizzie. She looked absolutely stunning in her dark purple dress. Her hair was let loose and fell carelessly around her face. Typically, she pulled her hair up in a ponytail, but on the occasion she wanted to look nice, she wore it down. And the purple in her dress, for whatever reason, made her eyes almost glow.

"I'm sure she'll call you or come back here, soon," he said, trying to engage her in a conversation.

Lizzie decided, now that she had searched the entire house that she might as well just wait for Jane. No sooner had she sat down on the couch, she heard loud footsteps coming down their stairs. Charlie walked into the living room, disheveled and clearly upset; he made eye contact with Will before walking out the door and slamming it behind him.

Will immediately stood up, looked briefly at Lizzie before following Charlie out the front door.

Lizzie crept up the stairs, suspecting Jane's presence up there. She heard muffled crying coming out of a darkened room. When Lizzie walked into the room and turned on the light, she saw her sister sitting on the floor with her mascara running from her eyes. Lizzie quickly rushed to her sister's side.

"Janey, what's wrong?" she asked, but it only made Jane cry louder.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Hey, so here's part two, as promised. Unfortunately, after this I can't promise anything until after December 10th when my exams are over. Once the semester is over I have six weeks of Christmas break, and I intend to finish this during that time. So hold out through my hiatus because I promise I'll come back. I tried to mix up my style a bit, as you'll notice, and I hope the result is good. Thanks to everyone for reviewing, following, and favoriting. I am also going back and cleaning up the previous chapters, so those will be better, but the plot will stay the same. Also, I haven't had a chance to proofread, so please let me know of anything that is wrong. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: Part Two**

"Charlie, this is ridiculous, come back." Will called out after his friend who was hurrying along the sidewalk.

" _Jane what happened?" Lizzie tried to comfort her sister as best she could, inhibited by her ignorance of her situation._

"You're being childish. Why can't you talk to me about it?" Will tried again, Charlie seemed to ignore every attempt. He was clearly very angry, and Will wanted to help him, but was inhibited by his ignorance of Charlie's situation.

" _Lizzie, I messed up" Jane sobbed into Lizzie's shoulder, not knowing how to properly articulate what had happened between her and Charlie, and she feared her actions had severe negative consequences._

Eventually, Charlie reached a small, dimly-lit park that offered the perfect setting for late night reveries; Charlie had all but forgotten its existence until happening upon it this night. He soon found a suitable bench, planted himself on it, and placed his face in his hands.

"Will, I messed up."

" _He was drunk, and he told me he loved me." Jane tried to explain through her cries, "I didn't want the first time he told me that to be when he was drunk."_

"I didn't lie, you understand," Charlie was soon followed to the bench by his friend and attempted to explain to his friend so Will could give his opinion that Charlie valued so much, "I do love her, and I wanted to wait for the right moment."

" _I mean, I love him too," Jane had finally consoled herself with her sister gently stroking her back and comforting her presence, "I just think that because he was so drunk that I didn't believe him, so I tried to get him to understand."_

"What did she say?"

" _When he said that he loved me I just told him that he was too drunk, and didn't understand what he was saying," Jane told Lizzie, "I told him that we could have a real conversation when he hadn't had so much to drink but he…" Jane was once again compromised to her emotions._

"I told her that I did know what I was talking about," Charlie sighed loudly, "I guess I let what you told me get to me, you know, about Jane not being as into the relationship as I was,"

" _He said that I didn't love him the way he loved me,"_

"and her reaction to me confessing my true feelings is conformation that you were right."

" _Lizzie I do love him, but I didn't want to have such a personal conversation when he could barely control himself, and probably wouldn't remember it in the morning," Lizzie replied that she understood her sister's feelings completely._

"I don't know what to do,"

" _I don't know how to fix what I've done," Jane confessed to Lizzie._

" _There's nothing to fix," Lizzie replied honestly, "You acted in a way that you believe in and you shouldn't change for anyone,"_

"I was so happy, I honestly wished that I hadn't asked," he turned his face to Will, "what should I do?"

" _I think you should just call him in the morning, explain yourself to him when he's sober, and I'm sure he'll understand where you're coming from,"_

"You should leave," Will told him boldly, "You need time away from her to get a feel for yourself, and heal,"

" _You two will be fine," Lizzie patted her head, trying to seem more maternal than she felt, "I've seen the way he looks at you, there's no way he'll leave because of this."_

"Remember that offer from New York City you got a few days ago," Charlie nodded in recognition. The position was much better than at USC's hospital, he turned it down, wanting to stay close to his family, friends, and the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, "You could call them back, and take the offer. It's the perfect opportunity to start over."

"You really think I should do that?"

" _Yes, of course, Jane," Lizzie stood up with Jane, "we can leave if you want," Lizzie had truly wanted to leave much sooner, but put her selfishness aside for her clearly hurting sister, "I'll leave a note in the kitchen,"_

"If it were me, yes" Will replied honestly, "if I thought the girl didn't like me as much as I like her, then I would end it. You deserve to be with someone who is committed as you are."

" _The weather is perfect tonight," Lizzie tried to get her sister's mind off of Charlie, but it had no effect, "Jane everything will be okay, I promise." Jane looked up for a brief moment and smiled slightly at her sister._

"I am really going to miss this weather," Charlie leaned back on the bench and stared up at the sky.

* * *

"Will what the hell did you do?" Caroline prodded upon hearing her brother's news about moving to New York City, "You and I both know how he feels about Jane,"

"Jane didn't feel the same way," he replied, half-interested.

"Are you out of your mind?" Caroline thought this was the first time in her life she was seeking an argument with the man she had wanted for so long, "it was as plain as day that she was crazy for him."

Will looked up, clearly annoyed, "Caroline, their relationship was detrimental to their emotional health, I simply gave my opinion. It's not my fault Charlie decided to follow it."

"I have to call him and tell him to come back," she was already reaching for her phone, and dialing his number when Will reached up and took the phone from her, "What the hell? Give it back, I have to undo what you have done."

"Think about it, Caroline," Will tried to convince her, "we both love him, and want what's best for him," Caroline simply nodded, overwhelmed by his serious expression and the proximity of his face to hers, "and I think we would both agree that this is best for him,"

"How is it—"

"Charlie's position at the New York hospital is much better than here, and he will have the chance to heal from whatever wounds Jane made,"

Caroline wasn't entirely convinced, but recognized Will's logic. She knew Jane's adoration of her brother, and although she scoffed at their financial situation, she knew that Jane would be in pain. She then made the difficult decision to compromise the sweet girl with no career outlook, in effort to spare herself from Will's disappointment and anger.

"Fine, I will let him go to New York," Caroline replied, "however, you will regret this decision." She finished and walked out of the nearly empty house. Leaving Will alone in the living room, not for a minute second-guessing his decision.

* * *

"He still hasn't called?" Lizzie gave a sad gaze over to her sister, who shook her head. She looked absolutely miserable. Lizzie had no idea how to help her, and then decided to take matters into her own hand. She grabbed Jane's phone from the counter and dialed Caroline's number. She pressed the speaker icon, and sat it down on the table in front of Jane, who barely noticed her movement.

" _Hello?"_ Caroline's voice sounded from the other end.

"Hey, Caroline, sorry to bother you," Lizzie began, "but I was wondering if you knew where your brother is?"

" _Oh, you haven't heard,"_ she responded, voice laced with a disappointed tone, _"He's moving to New York. A hospital there offered him a position, a better position, and he decided to take it."_

The color in Jane's face drained out, and Lizzie looked over to her quickly. Her face was stony, and she bit her lip to keep her from crying.

"Oh, okay, well thanks, anyway," Lizzie now regretted her attempt to make her feel better, "Tell him that we'll miss him,"

" _Will do,"_ Caroline tried her very best from revealing the truth, _"I'll talk to you later, Lizzie,"_

The call ended and Jane curled herself around Lizzie, "This is all my fault," she sobbed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

 **A/N:** _so I realized that this website still counts seven part two as chapter eight, and since I am extremely type A, and want this to be orderly, I'm changing part two to eight, and then this is chapter nine. Almost to the double digits, and I feel like this is the farthest I've ever gotten with anything, which I owe to the people who follow and comment: thank you! And with this chapter I have brought the resurgence of the infamous Wickham, tell me what you think of him in this chapter. I've also started working on some other P &P fanfiction that I hope to work on as a side until this is done, and then start posting the other stuff, it's not a modern au but it's definitely really different from the original. Anyway, I know I swore not to post until Dec. 10, well plans changed because I took my calculus exam early (I got an A in the class!) and my English teacher let me turn in my final exam essay early too, so I only have to focus on US history and chemistry (arguably only chemistry), and so I'm a lot less stressed, and decided to work on this because I have had some weird bouts of inspiration and wanted to get it down. Anyway, sorry for that boring insight into my life, and thank you for the reviews, because y'all make my life (if I haven't responded to yours I promise I will get to it) and for the follows, as y'all also make my life. _

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Jane wallowed in her bed. Well, she had been wallowing for the past few weeks since Charlie left without a word spoken to her or anyone else in their mutual friend group. It was pathetic, and Lizzie felt it was her familial duty to make her happy. So far she had failed in every attempt: she took Jane to the movies, and a puppy made Jane relapse in the movie theater, which really pissed off a lot of people; she took Jane to her favorite Mexican restaurant, but that made her remember seeing Will Darcy last time they came, and then she thought of Charlie, and then she cried. The list went on. Lizzie was at her wits' end; she loved her sister, more than anything and it pained her to see wallowing in self-pity.

"Jane," Lizzie said sternly on a morning about a month after Charlie had left, and Jane was still drowning in despair, and making no effort to save herself, "Change of plans."

Jane made no noise, but moved slightly under the covers. Lizzie sighed audibly, and let her shoulders sink down in exasperation.

"You're coming home with me."

"You're going home?" a weak voice said from under the covers.

"Well, Charlotte's wedding is in Yellowstone, which isn't too far from home, so I've decided to go early, and then drive to Charlotte's wedding." Lizzie moved to sit down on the mattress next to her sister, "And you're coming with me. Everything here reminds you of him, you need the distraction. And we both know mom is ample distraction," Lizzie was rewarded with a meager laugh, "and you haven't been home in a year, you need the environmental therapy of the untamed Montana Rockies." Another soft laugh, maybe this was progress, Lizzie thought to herself.

"I have work," Jane breathed, "I can't go."

"Jane, you've barely been going to work the past month, and you have a ton of freelance work that you can take with you," Lizzie was reminded of having to call Jane's office for a short leave of absence, which was a sign that Jane was truly hurting from Charlie's behavior. Her work was somewhat obliging; they asked why and Lizzie lied a bit about a family emergency to hide the embarrassing details that, when taken from the outsiders' perspective, made Jane seem a bit pathetic. Lizzie knew that Jane wasn't pathetic, despite the current situation, but she had opened herself up to someone who she thought she trusted and he turned around and hurt her; Jane needed time to heal. The leave of absence was for two months, Lizzie negotiated so that Jane would have plenty of time and wouldn't feel stressed to start work. Jane had continued on her freelance work, but very slowly.

Jane sighed again, "Lizzie, I don't want to let my family see me so pathetic,"

"Jane, that's crazy," Lizzie patted her head; her hair was matted and dirty, and had lost all the glossy shine it used to have, "we both know that family is supposed to support us when we're at our worst, and that's what you need: support, more than I can offer,"

At this Jane turned to face Lizzie, her eyes were bloodshot and her face was tinged red, "Lizzie, you're the best support."

"Right now you need to be free of reminders, and you need to be distracted. You can get through this, I know you, you're tough and brilliant and amazing, and I have the utmost confidence that you will emerge from this whole thing with the most grace anyone possibly could."

Jane smiled weakly at her sister before agreeing to accompany Lizzie to Helena.

* * *

Will Darcy needed a break.

He always felt like he needed a break; he imagined it was a typical feeling for people condemned to a job the hate. He sat through corporate meetings and debriefings on company finances one after the other, and they began to bleed together in his memory. He needed Gigi. He hadn't even spoken to her recently, she was wrapped up in school and he was busy helping his friend settle into his new life in New York by wrapping up loose ends on the LA side.

 _Perfect,_ he thought suddenly, and his upper body bolted upwards, straightening his spine, _I can kill two birds with one stone._ He opened his laptop and searched for flights to New York City, and quickly booked a flight for the next day. His intention was to visit Charlie in New York, then rent a car to surprise Gigi in Ithaca.

And that was how he found himself confused on Charlie's couch less then forty-eight hours later.

"How's LA holding up without me?" Charlie tried his very best to sound cheerful in front of his friend.

Will instantly picked up on Charlie's unhappiness from the minute he saw him in the airport, he accounted it to be just adjusting to a new city. However, now that they were alone in his apartment, Will could sense that it was deeper.

Will laughed, "I think the general LA population has managed quite nicely, but I have been lost." Will quickly realized the truth in his statement after he said it, "Work is horrible, as it usually is, but now I have no one to complain to, not even Caroline will return my calls."

"What a strange turn of events," Charlie said apathetically.

"I know," Will sighed, "How are you holding up?"

Charlie looked down.

"Are you okay, Charlie?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I mean, I'm healthy, I guess" Will looked at his friend intently, "I just miss home,"

"That's normal, you'll probably get over that soon, and it's only been a month,"

"But it's also…I miss our friends. I mean, I obviously miss Jane a lot, and I wished I had spoken to her before I left, but now it seems like too much time has lapsed and it would be weird. But I also miss everyone, New Yorkers don't give off the friendly vibe; I think it's the weather," Charlie smiled, wanting to change the subject.

Charlie trusted Will more than anyone, yet he felt like he had made a mistake trusting Will's opinion above his own this time. In most cases, Will's pragmatic nature helped Charlie see more realistically, but in the relationship that Charlie wanted so much from, he wondered if his friend's advice was too cold and unfeeling, like the person who gave it. Charlie thought back to Jane and his conversation about Lizzie, and it was plainly obvious to him that Will had feelings, but he would never do anything, too taciturn and callous. He had originally hoped that Jane and his relationship would ease Lizzie and Will into their own, but it was cut short.

* * *

"Hey, you wanna be my plus one?"

"What?" George Wickham replied as he and Lizzie walked on Santa Monica pier, an unofficial date. George wasn't really sure if he wanted to actually do anything with this girl, but she was funny and nice to look at, so he decided he would decide later.

"To my friend's wedding." Lizzie reminded him, "It's in Yellowstone, a beautiful venue at the Old Faithful Inn, I don't know how Charlotte even got it…"

"When is it?"

"Two weeks from now, I'm actually heading up the day after tomorrow with Jane to see my family, but you can be spared that torture," she laughed to herself thinking of introducing George Wickham to her family. Her father would be indifferent, as he always was. Her mother would put their pictures onto an online photo morph to see what their children would look like. She stopped herself from imagining her younger sisters.

"Crap, sorry I can't" he said honestly, "I'm actually heading up to New York this weekend; I'm seeing some buddies there,"

"Ah," Lizzie said in understanding, and she was surprised at how disappointed she felt, "No problem, I got hordes of other guys swarming to get my plus one invite,"

"Really?" he said, arching an eyebrow. Dammit, he was hot, Lizzie thought.

"Really."

"You're not just saying that to make me jealous?" he teased, they had stopped walking at this point, and he had turned to face her, leaning in flirtatiously.

"I would never,"

"Really?"

"Really." She confirmed.

"Well, now, that's the problem," he leaned in closer, and Lizzie did nothing to back away, "it's doing a very good job of making me jealous." Then he closed the space between them.

* * *

A whole mess of a scene unfolded before Will Darcy's eyes.

George Wickham was sitting on his sister's couch, and she was sitting across from him. She turned toward him as he let himself into her apartment, and her surprise was written plainly on her face.

"Will?"

"What's going on?" Will could scarcely mask his anger. George Wickham two years previously decided to secretly date his sister, and for whatever reason, when Gigi told Will he was angry, remembering their freshman year together where George drank too much, and tried to take advantage of girls who also had been drinking. Will and Gigi's fight gave way, and Gigi refused to speak to Will. Eventually, or maybe it was his plan all along, George began to realize the monetary value that could be gained from Gigi if he played his cards right. Their relationship soon became emotionally abusive, it wasn't until Will discovered it that he learned the depth of George's manipulation: he repeatedly told her that Will didn't care for Gigi, that he only kept her around since she owned 30% of the shares in his company, and then convinced Gigi to hand over her shares to George. She agreed partly from her anger with Will, and partly from wanting to do anything to keep George in her life. He had also convinced Gigi that his intentions were marriage, so they would share the 30% of stock interest. Wickham originally had his own 30%, along with Darcy, but sold it over to Darcy when his father died, declaring that he didn't want to be associated with the company, and requested only that Will honor his father's wish to provide him an education. Will complied and funded his education at Boston University for a semester, then NYU for what Will thought was the remainder of his undergraduate studies, but soon found out that George had not been attending college at all, and was spending his tuition money on excessive parties and alcohol. The day before Gigi handed over her shares of the company to George, Will went to Ithaca to surprise her and apologize, intending to explain how George had used their father's good nature to fund his exuberance, and Gigi realized how George had taken advantage of her to get money. Will was able to stop the transfer, but Gigi was devastated. Now, his instant reaction was that history was repeating itself, and he would have to deal with Gigi's heartbreak by George all over again.

"What the hell is going on?" Will repeated.

Gigi looked down, ashamed.

"I was just coming to apologize to Gigi—" George began.

"Stop, George, get out, please," Gigi cut him off, "I appreciate your apology but I would like it if you left now."

George looked aghast, but quickly complied with Gigi's request and slid past Darcy to shut the door behind him.

"Are you okay?" he asked his sister.

"Yeah," she told him as he replaced George's position across from her, "he did apologize, but he wanted money from me. He had a plan about how to get around you, then you walked in, kind of ironic, huh?"

Will was pleased to see that Gigi seemed relatively unaffected.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" she stood up, "and come here, I haven't had a chance to hug you properly."

* * *

"You're home!" Lydia raced to hug her two eldest sisters, "I have been so bored with just Kitty and Mary, Lord knows they're so boring!" Her brunette ringlets looked like Lizzie's, if Lizzie had ever had the patience and time to fix her hair like Lydia did.

"Lydia, be nice" Jane warned. Lizzie noticed how Jane was defrosting from her melancholy almost before her eyes. Jane loved her family, and Lizzie knew she made the right decision.

"Whatever, Kitty changed her major to marketing, how lame is that?" ringlets bobbed around her head.

Kitty soon joined the three of them, "Lydia, you're a creative writing major, you have no room to talk!" she defended. Kitty was the weird halfway point between Lizzie and Jane in terms of appearance. Her hair fell somewhere in the range of brown or blonde, but it looked like it couldn't decide on just one.

Lydia groaned loudly, "anyway, I've been seeing this guy, his name is Denny—"

"Like the fast food breakfast place?" Lizzie snorted, but was quickly quieted by a pointed look from Lydia.

"As I was saying, we're dating now, and he's taking me with him to California this summer," she squealed, "so I might get to see you!"

"I won't be seeing you this summer, as I was not invited." Kitty said dejectedly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Of course you weren't invited, it's a couples' trip," Lydia replied and Lizzie instantly made a gagging noise.

"My girls!" their mother tossed her arms around Lizzie and Jane at the same time before showering them both with kisses, "How I have missed you two!"

"We've missed you, too, mom," Jane tried to breath under her mother's stifling presence.

The quickly gathered all their luggage before piling into their crowded Subaru.

"So how long are you staying?" Kitty had somehow managed to claim the shotgun seat, and turned around to face the other three sisters.

"I'm here for two weeks, but Lizzie has to leave in a week to go to Charlotte's wedding," Jane explained.

"Who's Charlotte?" Lydia asked.

"Really? She was my best friend growing up," Lizzie turned to face Lydia, offended but not really surprised that Lydia forgot.

"Lizzie, I don't pay that much attention to you because you're unbelievably boring," Lydia replied before losing interest in the current conversation and moving onto to a topic that revolved around her.

* * *

"You're leaving already?" Gigi asked.

"Yeah," he replied sadly, after only two days with his sister. He had originally intended on staying longer but things had come up, "Aunt Catherine has force me and Richard to her employee's wedding. I spared you by telling her you were too busy with school,"

"Thank you,"

"No problem, she says he's getting married to some neuroscientist, anyway, I don't know why I'm coming since I don't know either of them, but she insisted."

Gigi laughed, "Okay, well good luck facing the beast," he smiled and kissed the top of Gigi's head, "at least you'll have Richard."

In the car back to New York City, Darcy realized that he was surprisingly excited for the wedding. He had wondered over Lizzie Bennet for what seemed like an eternity, and now he had the opportunity to go to Yellowstone, which was somewhat close to where she lived (not really, he thought, but close enough), and he believed that seeing her environment would help understand her. And by understand her, he meant overcome the feelings he had developed for her.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** _H_ _ere's chapter ten! I really want to finish this story over my Christmas break, so when I start the new semester, I'll also be working on something new. Anyway, thanks for all your kind words in the reviews (and the constructive criticism, I really do appreciate it, if I've learned anything so far it's that I am really bad at coming up with a plot beforehand, and so there's a lot of plot holes, as I'm sure you've discovered). So please enjoy, and I hope to post again very soon! Also this is the longest chapter so far, so I hope the wait was well worth it!_

* * *

Chapter Ten

Lizzie had to hand it to Charlotte; the wedding venue was beautiful. Most of the wedding guests hadn't arrived, because it was Friday morning and the wedding itself wasn't until Saturday afternoon. Lizzie had arrived early to see Charlotte, and to enjoy the general scenery of Yellowstone. No place gave her quite the sense of home as the vast expanses that the Rockies gave her.

"Lizzie!" Charlotte turned away from the caterer and saw her friend walk up in loose jeans and an orange sweater, "I was wondering when you'd be here, have you checked into your room?" Most of the guests that were staying the weekend were staying at the Old Faithful Inn, and Lizzie was ecstatic when she had a view of the geyser, though she silently wondered if it would keep her up at night.

"Yeah, it's lovely," Lizzie hugged her friend, "actually all of this is. It's gorgeous, honestly." She looked at the large room that was going to host the reception. The main hall of the Inn was a tall room that stretched up the entire height of the building and everything was made of wood. A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling giving the entire room a warm glow.

"I was really happy when Ricky agreed to have it here," she sighed and looked up at the ceiling far above her head, "I really love this place, remember coming here as kids?" Lizzie nodded and smiled and Charlotte continued, "So, you want to check out the venue for the ceremony, it's on the shore of Lake Shoshone, and if you think this is beautiful, you haven't seen anything, yet."

Charlotte was entirely right, nothing had been set up at the sight of the wedding that was a little over twenty-four hours away, but the scene itself was breathtaking. A light breeze ushered in from the lake kissed their faces lightly, and the mountains on the other side of the lake rose up sharply. The lake itself was lined with dark green forests and the water reflected the clear blue sky.

"I had always dreamed I'd get married her," Charlotte announced, reminding Lizzie of their several middle school family trips when they had written down their dream wedding and dream husband; a fad started by the self-proclaimed most popular girl in school. Lizzie remembered Charlotte talking about a compassionate, warm-hearted man who made her laugh, and wondering how Ricky fit her adolescent ideals.

They stood in silence and soaked in the beauty of the landscape before returning to Charlotte's rental car, and driving back to the inn.

"The CEO from de Bourgh investments is arriving today, and I have to go pick her up because Ricky's not here yet," Charlotte said as she dropped Lizzie off without getting out of the car herself.

"Why is Ricky's future employer coming to your wedding?"

"Ricky insisted," Charlotte adjusted the rearview mirror, "Networking, or whatever. Anyway, I don't mind, if it makes him happy. Apparently she's invited some of her family. Two nephews I believe."

"I cannot believe Ricky forced you to invite his future boss to your wedding, and her family! Charlotte, literally no one does that unless they're best friends with their boss." A beat, "is he best friends with his boss? Oh, I can totally see that."

"No, I mean, Ricky admires her because she has been really successful, but I would hardly call them friends." Charlotte thought of the many phone calls Ricky made with her; she had never seen someone able to squander Ricky's nonstop talking as much as she did.

"Then why is she coming? It's weird to use your wedding as some 'networking' meet-and-greet,"

"Lizzie, it's not just my wedding, it's his too, and we split the number of people we could invite, and that's who he chose," Charlotte sighed, as Lizzie stepped out of the car.

Lizzie realized that fighting with Charlotte wasn't going to accomplish anything and quickly tried to amend it, "You're right, I'm sorry, Charlotte," Charlotte turned toward Lizzie standing in between the door and the side of the car, "Drive carefully."

The sincerity of her apology almost made Charlotte reveal a secret to Lizzie, but stopped herself; telling Lizzie that one of Mrs. De Bourgh's nephews was a man that she despised wasn't going to help the situation (Lizzie had often complained to Charlotte about the seemingly countless things he had done to annoy her). So, she made the decision to smile back and say, "I will!" before leaving the hotel.

* * *

This was entirely unfair, Will Darcy thought. His aunt was a whirlwind of complimenting her daughter or herself or criticizing those around her, and the talking was incessant.

"Well, Miss Lucas, don't you look tired today," she said, her face matching the reproach as she scanned the girl who was waiting by the baggage claim for them. She was small but had a friendly face, Will decided, and it was obvious that this Miss Lucas had met his aunt before, mostly because she wasn't taken aback by her rude comments, "Dear, you do look so warn down…I brought detox tea with me and I simply insist you must try it. It will boost your complexion, and the bags under your eyes will disappear!"

"Thank you, Mrs. De Bourgh." She responded politely, "You must be…?" turning toward the tall man at Catherine's side.

"Will Darcy,"

"Nice to meet you," she replied, smiling. Charlotte thought that it was quite a strange phenomenon finally meeting someone that had only existed only in her imagination on the basis of an extremely judgmental friend, and the cloud of disillusionment was lifted. He was good-looking; Lizzie had conveniently never mentioned that, she seemed to be fixated on his negative qualities; he was tall with striking green eyes that someone could get lost in. Charlotte noticed he seemed a little stiff, no doubt from the presumably draining flight with his aunt.

"And your other nephew, Mrs. De Bourgh?" Charlotte turned back to the older lady.

"Oh, dear Richard is in the restroom," she turned to look back in the direction of the bathrooms to see if he was coming, "poor boy is deathly afraid of flying and would not get out of his seat the entire time. I told him, 'Now, Richard, everyone knows how safe planes are, just use the restroom' but he would not listen to me, which agitated me greatly," she sighed, and turned toward Will, "you know how I feel when people don't listen to me, like when dear Georgiana decided to major in pre-medicine rather than pre-law, we both know she would be a wonderful lawyer," Will opened his mouth to defend his sister but was cut off again as Catherine turned her attention toward Charlotte, again, "You know, my own daughter, Anne, is studying law at Yale, quite the accomplished girl she is."

"You guys been waiting long?" a smiling face said from behind Will and Catherine. He had dark hair, almost black but the light caught it and revealed the chocolaty undertones, it was a mess of almost curls, like they had put in half of the effort to fully curl, and it gave him a devil-may-care appearance, he smiled at Charlotte, "you must be the betrothed," he smiled and extended a hand. Up close Charlotte noticed the specs of green in his light brown eyes.

She returned the smile, "Hi, I'm Charlotte Lucas, are you all ready to go?"

"Richard, you simply took too long," Catherine began to complain as they walked to the car, "if you had used the restroom on the plane, like I told you, we could've have avoided this mess,"

"My sincerest apologies, aunt Catherine," he opened the passenger door to allow his aunt to step in.

"And Miss Lucas," she adjusted herself in the passenger seat, "don't take curves too fast, it disrupts my digestive system."

"Yes, Mrs. De Bourgh," Charlotte buckled herself into the car, and turned the ignition to start the engine.

"Has any other wedding guests arrived yet?" Richard asked, leaning forward to join the conversation.

"Only my friend, Lizzie," Charlotte responded haphazardly, not thinking of the consequences, "But she was visiting her family in Montana, so she just took a bus down," Darcy was only partly paying attention, and didn't put the dots together, but the name piqued his interest enough to give his full attention.

"Is she a bridesmaid?" Richard asked earnestly.

"Oh, no," Charlotte explained, "I mean, Lizzie's one of my best friends but she only recently came back into my life, when I moved down to LA, she stayed in Montana, but she works at Caltech now, which is where I'm getting my doctorate, so we reunited."

Darcy's mind was working a mile a minute, trying to remember everything Lizzie had ever said, trying to decide if it was her or not.

"Lizzie _Bennet_?" Will managed meekly, and Charlotte's heart stopped. She didn't even think to stop herself from revealing Lizzie being at her wedding, but she quickly regained herself, deciding that it was no big secret, anyway, but now she was going to never hear the end of it from Lizzie.

"Yeah," Charlotte replied, "Do you know her?" lying was not something that Charlotte was particularly gifted in, but she hoped that these people didn't know her well enough to notice her methodically fiddling with her earring.

Richard and Catherine both turned toward Will to see his response, he coughed, "Only a little, we met at a party," Darcy was also not particularly good at lying, but turned to gaze out to the window before anyone could notice his discomfort.

Catherine turned back to Charlotte, quizzing her on wedding preparations, and Richard turned toward Will, " _the_ Lizzie Bennet?" he asked knowingly. Darcy sighed. Besides Charlie and Gigi, Richard was his main confidante. He had explained to him about Lizzie, and how she confused him, Richard was quick to pick up on what Will was truly feeling.

"You _like_ her!" he had exclaimed when they had spoken about it, nearly two months ago.

"What? I do not," Will had replied, a slight blush creeping up his neck.

"You _so_ do!" Richard had laughed hysterically, "What's she like? Besides an obvious affinity for arguing with you."

Will had paused to think about a simple description that could be applied to her, it was far more difficult than he had imagined, "Passionate." He had finally decided on. Out of all the words that could have described her, he thought this one did her the most justice.

"Yes, _the_ Lizzie Bennet," Darcy replied quietly, back in the car, and Catherine droned mindlessly on about the importance of geranium center pieces instead of chrysanthemum ones.

Richard smiled widely, "I finally get to meet her," he said to himself, giddy with excitement. Richard had known Will since they were infants, and ever since Will could remember Richard had a friendly childlike presence that made him well-liked wherever he went. He would like Lizzie, Will finally decided, but then was unsure if that was good or bad.

Richard soon turned his attention back to Charlotte, "this place is gorgeous, did you say you grew up here?" he asked, genuinely astonished at the natural beauty of the national park.

Charlotte laughed lightly, "I grew up in Helena, which is about an hour and a half from here," she paused, contemplating the drive from Helena to Yellowstone, "but it's gorgeous there, too, though I am probably biased."

"Hell, I'm biased after seeing this," Richard said facing the window, "Seattle will never compare again." He ended solemnly.

"You're from Seattle?" Charlotte asked, trying to fend off any conversation from Catherine about her wedding. Her nerves were already wearing thin trying to make sure everything was in order, and Catherine, try as she might, was no help.

"Yeah, well, LA originally, like the rest of my family," he explained, "but I moved up there for a job, I'm an architecture professor at U Dub," he explained. The car then went silent, until Catherine quickly took up the reigns of the conversation.

Will and Richard were silent in the back, as Will contemplated how Lizzie had possibly changed in the time since he had seen her.

When they finally reached the hotel, Charlotte helped unload the luggage and take her guests inside to find Lizzie sitting in the lobby engrossed in a book, and looked up to see Charlotte walk in.

Lizzie smiled widely at her friend as she entered with the party of three behind her, but the smile melted away almost as quickly as it had appeared when she saw Will Darcy following Charlotte and his aunt. Will's eyes rose up to meet hers from across the lobby, and her gaze collided with his for a millisecond then left to take in the rest of the group, the smile not returning.

Will was almost used to being confused by Lizzie, but her expression when she saw him baffled him beyond anything he thought remotely possible. When he had heard about her being here in the car, he couldn't stop himself from smiling, albeit internally, to hide himself from his cousin, but he had hoped that she would have a similar reaction. He was unsure if her constant arguing was her personality or if she had it out for him. And if the latter, was that a positive or negative thing. He had clearly seen her smile fade as soon as she saw him, but he had no idea what that meant.

"Ah, the infamous Lizzie Bennet," Richard stepped in front of his aunt to greet Lizzie, and as he said this her face pinched up quizzically.

"Infamous?" she laughed, "I hoped Charlotte didn't give away too much in the drive from the airport."

"Oh, Charlotte said nothing against you, I swear," he smiled at her, and ran his hands through his hair. Lizzie was slightly impressed because he was the only person she knew that could do that and actually make their hair look better, "but my cousin has told me all about you, and he has almost made me feel like I know you already, from his retelling of you."

Will felt the heat rising to his face, and was determined to stare anywhere but her. _Since when did Richard make me act like a lovesick teenager,_ he berated himself silently. However, to his surprise Lizzie simply laughed, and he looked at her.

"Oh, I believe _that._ " She met his eyes again "Will is my most severe critic." She held his gaze for a bit longer than she originally anticipated but quickly looked back at Richard, "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Richard Fitzwilliam," he turned toward his aunt, who he could feel growing impatient with every second she was not included in the conversation, "and this is my aunt, Catherine de Bourgh."

"Pleased to meet you," Lizzie extended her hand politely. Catherine looked at it like it was contaminated with smallpox then reluctantly grabbed it, and released it soon after.

"Enchanted, I'm sure," she replied, turning toward Charlotte, "Are we ever going to check in? You know how much I seriously dislike waiting." Charlotte nodded at led her to the front desk, the three followed in suit.

Lizzie was not exactly enchanted; in fact, the way she would describe her first meeting Catherine to her friends was "I was mostly impressed on how she somehow managed to get everyone to do what she asked, even though it was evident no one really liked her."

"My aunt is a little…" Richard stood next to her by the front desk as Charlotte helped check Catherine in.

"Abrasive?" Lizzie offered, looking up at him. At that moment, the first moment he saw Lizzie's eyes up close was when he truly realized why she had captivated his cousin so strongly. They weren't particularly extraordinary eyes, but when they looked at you—when she looked at you with just the right expression, they almost glowed. It was like an entire chorus of laughter was contained in her eyes when she smiled, and the emotion couldn't help but spilling over into anyone who looked at her.

"Exactly."

* * *

"Hey, Lizzie," Richard appeared down in the lobby after he had put his luggage away in his room, "You want to go for a hike?"

Lizzie smiled at him, and Richard wondered if his cousin had ever had the same revelries about her eyes as he did earlier that day. Surely he had, Will talked about her nonstop when they were together, it bordered on extremely annoying. Richard could tell though, that these feelings weren't mutual with Lizzie, but he was determined to step her in the right direction.

"Yeah, actually that's sounds nice," Lizzie stood up and followed Richard out of the hotel into a brisk early winter breeze, "Charlotte's been going crazy with wedding stuff, so it'll be nice to take a break from all that."

Richard nodded, "So, what trail are you thinking about?" Richard loved the outdoors, it was one of the many perks of living in Seattle: the proximity to so much wilderness recreation. This was his first time to Yellowstone, and determined that he should ask a veteran Yellowstone visitor about what trails he should hike.

"My favorite is the Petrified Forest, but we'd have to drive there…" Lizzie began.

"No problem, we can just take Charlotte's rental." Richard was already heading back inside for the keys from Charlotte. Lizzie was a little uneasy about asking Charlotte for her rental car, but overcame it quickly with the idea of seeing her favorite spot in the first time in two years.

Charlotte readily agreed, assuring them that as long as they were back before dinner it would be fine, since Charlotte had to drive to the airport to pick up Ricky in the evening.

The drive passed quickly with easy conversation, Lizzie had never met someone who conversed as naturally as he did, she later came to the conclusion that there had been some sort of irregular balance between him and Will, and somehow Richard had gotten all the friendly qualities and Will was left with the ability to make any conversation awkward. Lizzie tried to direct him to the trailhead as best she could, but after they had gotten lost for the second time, she swallowed her pride and suggested they ask a park ranger, who helped them in the correct direction and they were at the trailhead within five minutes.

"I hope you're ready," Lizzie was crouching down, double knotting her shoes, "There is some serious elevation change on this trail."

"Lizzie Bennet, you have seen nothing yet, I only hope you can keep up," he laughed, extending a hand which she grabbed and hoisted her up.

"Please, you need me to know where we're going," Lizzie replied as they set out on the trail.

"You got us lost on the way here, I think I may actually be better off on my own," Richard said, turning his head to Lizzie who was walking behind him. They quickly found their pace on the trail, and the easy conversation flowed as Richard talked about his job, and Lizzie talked about growing up in Montana.

After about an hour, Richard decided to broach the subject of Will, "Lizzie, you said you've met Will before now, what was he like?" Richard hoped that talking about him would cause Lizzie to realize what a great person he was, but soon realized that the conversation would be a very different one once Lizzie groaned loudly.

"I met him at a party," Lizzie recounted, thinking of the first time she had seen him, "He was…rude."

"Rude?"

"Yeah, so I had barely even spoken to him, but I overheard him talking about how 'vile' I was. His words not mine," Lizzie felt her anger growing, "I mean, I was mostly confused on what I had done to make him hate me so much,"

Richard thought about what Lizzie was saying, it didn't seem like Will at all. He had known Will his entire life, and he had never been malicious, and certainly never to a stranger. He wondered how he could've even say that about Lizzie since every time Will talked to Richard about her it was only praise, "he said that?"

"Yeah, but it's fine now," Lizzie replied, and Richard could almost feel her contagious smile from behind him, "his opinion is meaningless to me."

After a lengthy pause Richard decided to try make Will look better in her eyes, "Will is the most loyal person that I have ever met, I mean, he's awkward, sure, but he cares so much about the people he loves."

"Really?" Lizzie laughed sarcastically.

Richard tried again, "Yeah, I mean, just recently he saved his friend from a horrible relationship."

Lizzie was intrigued, "What happened?"

"Apparently the friend was dating some girl who was only in it for the money," Richard related to Lizzie, still both walking at a steady pace, "and he told the girl that he loved her, and she was unable to reciprocate so Will convinced him to move to New York to get away from her."

Lizzie felt her head spin, and her mouth dry up, "Who was the friend?" she managed in a hoarse voice.

"Charlie Bingley, he's a great guy, you should meet him," Richard said happily.

Lizzie felt heat rise to her face, and her stomach churn. Everything came into focus in her mind; how Charlie had left so suddenly without saying anything, and how she had heard nothing from Will or Caroline. It was all his fault, and how could he think that Jane was only in it for the money, she wanted to scream, but instead slammed her foot down on an oblong rock and felt her ankle twist inwardly, then a sharp pain as her body fell to the ground. Her head hit something hard and she whimpered at the feeling of warm blood on her forehead.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Will Darcy was almost out of patience. Where had his cousin gone off to without telling him? He had searched everywhere, the area around the hotel, his room, and even checked with his aunt to see if she knew where he had gone. His aunt was still hovering around Charlotte throughout the afternoon, and seemed to be in no rush to take a break.

"Aunt Catherine," Will barged into the room unannounced, and Charlotte looked up at him from where the two women sat at a table in the reception hall, Charlotte was arranging the centerpieces for each table, and Catherine appeared to not be working in any way, "have you seen Richard? I haven't seen him since after we checked in."  
"No, William," Catherine flipped through a binder, "although that might be considered a good thing; because he has been out of our hair the entire afternoon," she commented nonchalantly, not looking up at her nephew.

"Oh, Will, I think Richard and Lizzie went on a hike a little while ago," Charlotte glanced up and smiled as she stuck the stem of a flower into the glass vase, "but it's been a while…" she turned her wrist up to see the watch on her arm, "oh crap, I need to leave soon. I have to pick up Ricky at the airport soon," she looked up at Will again, "and they're still not back?"

"I suppose not," Will said, his impatience replaced by mild worry, "do you know where they went?"  
"I believe they said the Petrified Forest, that's why they needed my rental car," Charlotte explained, "but we don't have any way to drive there, now…I can call Lizzie" Charlotte set the unfinished center piece down and picked up her cellphone. At the same time Charlotte placed the phone to her face, Will felt his own cellphone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at the caller ID.

"Richard, are you ok?" Will answered immediately, "Why are you not back yet?"

"Okay, calm down" Richard said in the phone, though Will suspected it was more to calm himself down then to calm Will down, "so, Lizzie had a _tiny_ accident while we were hiking and so it took us twice as long to walk back to our car because of that, and that's where my cellphone was, which is why I'm calling you now…" he trailed off and Will heard a weak voice in the background.

"Richard, I'm fine, it's just a sprain and a cut, you don't need to take me to the hospital." Lizzie said.

"What happened?" Will asked, trying his best to maintain an even tone in his voice, "Is she alright?"

"This is not up for debate," Richard replied to Lizzie, ignoring Will's remarks, "you need to make sure it's not broken."

"It's not broken, I can assure you, my bones have been broken before and this is not broken," Lizzie struggled to fight back the pain from exposing itself in her expression. She bit her lip to maintain her composure, "It just needs ice."

"Is she alright?" Will repeated louder.

"Oh, sorry, Will," Richard finally replied, "she's alive, if that's what you mean. But her ankle is badly swollen, she thinks it's sprained, and she hit her head, but she wasn't knocked out so that's good."

Will felt heat rising to his face, though he wasn't entirely sure where it was originating from, "You're taking her to the hospital?" he was anxious, though knew she would be in perfect care with Richard.

"Yeah, but we're coming back to the hotel first, so Charlotte can take the car to the airport after we've dropped Lizzie off at the hospital." Richard sighed, "tell Charlotte we'll be there in a few minutes."

Charlotte hung up the phone after getting Lizzie's voicemail, and looked up at Will who seemed to be having more luck. He put the phone back in his pocket and simply said, "they'll be here soon, but Lizzie has to go to the hospital."

* * *

Will glanced down at her feet, one still clad in an extremely dirty tennis shoe, the other removed of the shoe and her pants rolled up to her mid-calf, exposing the grotesquely swollen ankle. It didn't look broken, Will decided, but the sprain was very bad.

"Why weren't you wearing proper hiking boots?" he asked her, breaking an oppressive silence.

Lizzie was still uncertain as to why Will had to accompany them to the hospital. Her intense pain and bloodied forehead were only temporary impediments to releasing her pent up anger from what Richard had told her right before she fell.

"This never would have happened if you had hiking boots," he continued, unsure if her scowling expression was in response to his remarks or her pain, "they cover your ankle, which keeps it from rolling," he explained, trying to sound more earnestly concerned than imposingly haughty.

 _Is he really telling me what I did wrong right now,_ Lizzie questioned internally, _my forehead is covered in blood and I can barely walk on my ankle, and yet he still has the audacity to criticize me._

"Hiking boots are expensive," she managed to finally respond, after processing exactly what he had said, "And this shoes are usually trustworthy," she glanced down at her foot still in the ragged Nike shoe. It was true that they were trustworthy, though she had overrun them with activity; the sole was worn and on the verge of falling apart, and the laces were fragmented beyond repair despite the obvious attempts with duct tape.

Will nodded before pulling out his phone to find the nearest outdoor gear store.

"We're here," Charlotte remarked solemnly as they pulled up to the hospital. She made both Will and Richard promise to take good care of her as she went to the airport to pick up her fiancé. Richard being the shorter of the two and therefore closer to Lizzie height slouched down so she could easily put her arm around his shoulder as they hobbled into the hospital.

* * *

"I just got off the phone with Charlotte, and she said she just picked Ricky up and should be able to get here soon." Lizzie had let Richard borrow her cellphone to check on where she was now that they had just been released. "So good news, huh?" Richard handed her the cellphone and began examining her ankle brace.

"Yeah, it's not broken, as I told you." Lizzie smiled.

Richard waved his hand as if to shoo off the comment, "You can never be too cautious," he returned the smile.

"and my head doesn't need stitches," Lizzie finished, stretching in her chair in the waiting room, "I just have to wear this ridiculous brace and have a crutch for two weeks." She gestured by lifting the injured leg up, but soon winced and set it back down on the floor.

"Great start to the wedding weekend," Richard sat next to her, occupying the seat between Lizzie and Will, who was engrossed in his phone.

Lizzie laughed, "Yeah, I'm sure Charlotte will hold this over my head for a while."

* * *

"Charlotte, I'm just going to head up, I really just want to sleep," Lizzie told her friend as she hobbled into the lobby with her single crutch.

"No dinner? Are you sure?" Charlotte asked though she knew her friend was truly intensely humiliated from the afternoon.

"Yeah, I just want to take the painkiller and sleep until tomorrow," Lizzie smiled, before limping off.

"Does she need help?" Will soon replaced Lizzie's spot next to Charlotte.

Charlotte laughed, "She's so stubborn; she's just embarrassed that all this happened today because of her," Charlotte turned to look at Will, his concern for Lizzie was obvious and laughed at how unaware her friend was to have somehow missed it, "She'll be fine by tomorrow when her pride is regained."

Charlotte turned to walk away before Will spoke, "Oh, wait, Charlotte I have a favor to ask of you," he began, and nodded in understanding, "can I borrow your car? I need to go get something from West Yellowstone."

* * *

The next morning passed in the usual pre-wedding excitement, and Lizzie felt extremely guilty because she couldn't help with any of the setup, though Charlotte assured her that it was alright. It didn't help that Will stood around her like a hawk, giving her no peace of mind. Richard came to sit next to her every chance he got, in between keeping his aunt occupied, and Lizzie offered his company with open arms.

Before long it was time for Charlotte to get ready, and Lizzie took that as excuse enough to return to her room and struggle getting dressed as she had that morning.

She had bought a beautiful navy dress for the occasion, with Jane helping her pick it out. Lizzie never would have bought the dress without Jane first pointing it out, it was very different from her tastes, which were limited to jeans and sweaters, but once she tried it on, she agreed with Jane that the dress fit her nicely. It was a modest dress, the darkest cloth formed a sleeves dress with a flattering neckline, but a thinner navy fabric settled over the thicker dress and formed a slight sleeve over her shoulders giving the dress a much more modest feel. At her waist, the dress was adorned with a navy fabric belt that fit on Lizzie's figure perfectly. She was slightly disappointed that her crutch and ankle brace would inhibit her actually showing off the dress, but she promised herself she would have other opportunities to wear it. She had brought stylish silver heals to wear, but with her ankle brace she decided on much simpler black ballet flats.

The ceremony was simply stunning; Lizzie was stunned how the day before the location that had been a simple rocky shoreline graced with an oil painting as a background had become an intimate setting with white chairs set up facing the lake, and a small altar at the end of the aisle. Charlotte looked gorgeous, and Lizzie was amazed how much her friend had changed since they were children. The ceremony was simple, the couple exchanged vows then everyone piled into their cars and headed back to the inn for the reception.

Dinner was served almost immediately when everyone had arrived, and Lizzie suddenly felt fatigued. She tried to stay at the reception for as long as she could bear with her leg propped up on the seat beside her. Richard left his own table to come sit by her once many of its former occupants had vacated and moved to the dancefloor.

"Feeling okay?"

"Incredibly tired," she replied, throwing back the remainder of her champagne, "I think I'm going to hit the sack soon,"

"What? Are you kidding? The party is just getting started!" he responded animatedly.

"It's not like I can even dance," she gestured to her foot still on the chair, and looking pitiful in its brace. She yawned then continued, "I'm going to say goodnight to Charlotte, I'll see you later,"

Richard nodded and helped her up. Lizzie adjusted her crutch underneath her and hobbled off to where Charlotte was sitting with her newlywed husband.

* * *

"Where's Lizzie going?" Will asked Richard quietly after he returned from her emptied table, and Will noticed her hugging Charlotte then heading toward the exit.

"She's tired," he sighed, and sat down next to Will, "so she's going to bed."

Will had not really thought his plans through at this point, but because his family was leaving early the next morning he was unsure if he would have another chance. He slouched over and pulled a plastic bag with a box inside it, and got up.

"Where are _you_ going?" Richard asked, arching one eyebrow, determining that he already knew the answer.

"I'll be right back, I just want to say something to her." And with that he quickly left the table, following Lizzie out the door.

* * *

"Hey Lizzie," she heard a familiar voice call from behind her once she had entered the lobby. The entrance from the hallway into the lobby was in a quiet corner, and there didn't seem to be anyone except the staff still lingering, "do you have a second?"

"Will, I am really tired," Lizzie sighed, "so I am really not in the mood for this."

Will's expression hardened a bit before he continued, "it will only take a second, I promise."

Lizzie sighed exasperated, and sat down on a hearth next to a dying fire, "okay, what is so important that you feel the need to keep me from my sleep?"

Will fidgeted with the handle of the plastic bag he held in his hand as Lizzie's eyes bore holes into his skull; he had no idea what he wanted to say. Succumbing to the pressure of suspended silence he finally blurted.

"You bother me,"

" _What?_ " she responded, her eyes wide with his bold statement.

"I mean, sorry, that did not come out how I wanted it," he felt his cheeks flush vibrantly, and was sure she could notice, "it's not you, yourself, that bothers me, it's your presence it's so…unsettling."

"Unsettling?" Lizzie laughed in astonishment, "is that your lame ass attempt at a compliment?"

Will faltered, "What I mean to say is that something about you that makes me feel like I'm on a rollercoaster, and it's not a bad rollercoaster, it's more like the Hulk rollercoaster at Universal Studies in Orlando—"

"never been there,"

"oh, well," he felt his resolve falling to complete shambles, "it's a great rollercoaster, anyway, you make me feel…confused. And hopeless. And completely lost."

"Okay, Will, you're clearly having some sort of struggle session against me, and truly I don't appreciate it," she hoisted herself up with her crutch, "so I'm going to bed, hope you have fun at the party." She added sarcastically, waving her free hand as she turned to walk away.

"Wait, Lizzie," Will ran to stand in front of her, "what I mean to say is that I—I like you, very much so."

* * *

 **A/N:** surprise, surprise, there's still an author's note. Anyway so first off, here's a link to what I was imagining for Lizzie's dress, I hope I did it justice:

ok the link's not working, but if you go to my profile, I have it there, or you can leave a comment, and I'll send it to you.

Okay, so I know I promised to update quicker, but after I finished chapter ten, I actually went ahead and wrote what will become chapter twelve, and so then I felt super lazy and didn't want to write this chapter. But because of that, the next chapter should be out really soon, it only needs to be touched up.

So, leave a review of what you think, oh also, so I have never actually injured my leg before and I had to do some research about sprained ankles and some places said yes brace, no crutches and others said no/yes to both, and I just sprung for both, mostly because I can't imagine not having crutches if you can't put weight on it (?) correct me if I'm wrong because I have no idea. Anyway, thanks for the reviews/follows/favorites! They mean a lot! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Also what do you think of Will in this chapter? I'm concerned I made him seem to childish with the whole rollercoaster comment; I am totally willing to take that out, and willing to add in some of the typical kind of lines from the first 'proposal' scene.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve:

 **A/N:** hey, so short update! I don't really have any plans for after this, so I didn't know where to draw the line. And I wanted to update quickly so that last chapter can have closure. Please review and I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!

###

" _Wait, Lizzie," Will ran to stand in front of her, "what I mean to say is that I—I like you, very much so."_

"What?"

Will didn't mean to say that; he wanted to tell her how he felt because it was becoming overwhelming, but he didn't just want to announce it without any precedent, "Lizzie, I have liked you for a while, but I kept my feelings repressed because well…you're you" he tried to make amends for what he had said previously, knowing that she thought it was to offend her. He tried to explain honestly what his feelings were but all eloquence that had once existed in his head had long since left.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Lizzie's face was beginning to turn crimson with anger. All the emotions from when Richard had told her what Will did to her sister were coming back to her in full force. She wanted to hit him, but her logic kept her from injuring herself further, and humiliating Charlotte at her own wedding.

"C'mon, Lizzie," Will ran his hand through his hair anxiously, "You argue with me every chance you get, and that makes me nervous to say anything to you." _Shit,_ he thought immediately after finishing his statement, _that is not what I meant to say._ It was impossible to properly iterate everything that he had in his head; he had spent countless nights going over exactly what Lizzie was to him and what he felt in perfect expression and he had hoped to explain it as clearly to her. But his thoughts on Lizzie had morphed into poorly timed insults; Will decided that he needed to somehow recompose himself.

Lizzie rubbed her hand on her dress to calm herself, "Will, honestly, I am a little confused, but I appreciate the sentiment," she lifted her eyes to meet his, "I just don't know what you want me to say to that? That I like you too? I am sorry that I have to let you down like this, but your feelings are most definitely not reciprocated."

Will felt like he was falling, and had finally hit the ground, "You…don't reciprocate." Lizzie nodded in confirmation, "May I ask why?" He finished, stiffening his posture. He felt anger and embarrassment rising in him, but was completely unable to stop it.

"Are you kidding me?" Lizzie scoffed, "You just told me that I bother you, yet you somehow _like_ me. Are you crazy?"

"You don't like me just because you think that what I said about you bothering me was an insult?" Will asked, "Lizzie, I didn't mean that as an insult."

"No, I dislike you for many reasons," her eyes became lit with raw anger, "how could I possibly have feelings for the guy who singlehandedly ruined my sister's happiest relationship?"

Will paused, _so she had heard about it._

"God, you don't even deny it," she began again, the premonition of hot tears pricking her eyes, "do you even feel bad about it? I have never seen my sister so defeated, and she's the kindest person I have ever known. It's like kicking a puppy, Will."

"I don't want to deny it," Will's anger had reached its apex and it was beginning to spiral down uncontrollably, "Your sister was not as serious about the relationship as Charlie was, I simply suggested they take a break from each other. If you thought Jane's boyfriend wasn't truthful about the nature of their relationship, wouldn't you tell her to let him go?"

Lizzie recollected the times she had done just that, "Yeah, but the difference is Jane actually breaks up with them; she doesn't just leave without as much as a goodbye. Charlie gave her no closure whatsoever, she doesn't know what happened and it killed her." Lizzie's own anger was quickly rising to meet Will's.

"I did what was needed to be done," Will crossed his arms in front of his chest in defense. Will wanted nothing more than to leave her presence and nurse his wounded pride. But Lizzie was not done with him.

"But it's not only your horrendous treatment to my sister that causes me to hate you," Lizzie lifted her chin slightly and pushed her shoulders back to give her a more confident appearance than the crutch offered, "after I heard what you did to George Wickham, I knew that you were the worst person that I have ever met."

"George Wickham?" Will asked in astonishment, scarcely believing what he was hearing, "How do you even know him?"

"That's not any of your business," Lizzie repositioned the crutch under her arm that was cutting off the circulation to her hand, "what is important is that you ruined his life, and still treat him with ridicule."

Will's mind was reeling, _what is she talking about? What has Wickham told her?_ "Is that it?" he managed sarcastically, his facing contorting with the raw emotions that were clouding his judgement.

"And then you called me 'vile' the first time we met!" Lizzie added at Will's invitation, "we had barely spoken, and I tried to make conversation with you! _You're_ the one who was 'vile'"

Will furrowed his brow as he tried to remember the party. He had no memories of ever saying something negative about Lizzie, and then his memory brought his conversation with Charlie about his sister. His anger and clouded acumen prevented him from talking any more to Lizzie, afraid that she might retaliate more.

"I'm sorry I have wasted so much of your time," Will looked at the ground, and glanced at the bag in his hand, "I got you this."

He handed her the bag and looked once more at her confused face before turning to walk down the hall to the reception hall.

Once he was out of sight, Lizzie sat back down and opened the box in the bag. Inside was a pair of chocolate brown hiking boots, with a striped fabric on the inside of the shoe. Lizzie picked up one in amazement, examined the bottom tread and the overall quality. She pushed the tongue of the shoe out and noticed the Merrell logo printed on the inside. She looked up at the door where Will had escaped to a moment before, and immediately felt guilty.

This newfound guilt passed over quickly when she remembered what he had said to her.

###

"Will, are you okay?" Richard asked his cousin when he sat in the chair next to him, returning from following Lizzie out of the room. Their aunt had left their table to join Ricky and Charlotte sitting at the main table. They were alone in their private corner of the room. Many of the guests were dancing and enjoying the young evening.

"I'm fine," Will replied darkly, his eyes glazed over with his embarrassment as he over-analyzed what had just transpired between them.

"What did you tell Lizzie?"

"I just gave her a pair of hiking boots I bought yesterday," Will shifted uncomfortably next to Richard.

"You bought her hiking boots?" Richard questioned, smiling and arching one eyebrow, "how adorable."

Will sighed and put his elbows on the table and his face in his hands in exasperation, "I screwed up horribly."

Richard's face softened when he saw his cousin's distress, "What did you do?"

"I told her I liked her," Will looked up from his hands, "but I did it in the worst way possible. I can't help it; whenever I talk to her I just colossally mess up."

"How badly did you piss her off?" Richard asked knowingly. He had never met two people who were as talented at angering another off with such fervor as Lizzie and Will.

"Really badly,"

###

Lizzie woke early in the morning at a knock on the door; she quickly glanced at the clock on the table next to her, 6:30 a.m. She groaned loudly before slinging back the covers and using her crutch to stagger to the door.

"Richard?" she remarked when she opened the door, seeing a disheveled but fully dressed man before her, "why are you here so early?"

"We're leaving soon," he ran his hands through his hair, "I just need to give you something," he reached into his pocket and fished out a slip of paper folded neatly, "here," he said handing her the paper.

"What's this?"

"Listen, it's Will's but I really need you to read it," Richard's eyes pleaded when Lizzie up looked at him, "he is really messed up right now, and if I tell him that you promised to read it, it'll give him some comfort. So promise me, please, Lizzie, just read it,"

Lizzie sighed, too exhausted to argue with him, "Fine, I promise,"

"Awesome," Richard smiled and moved to place his arms around Lizzie in a warm hug, "Goodbye, Elizabeth Bennet."

The door closed and Lizzie placed the paper on the table before curling back up into her next of warm blankets, trying her best to fall asleep. She laid in bed for a half an hour before succumbing to the reality that she was not going to fall back asleep, and sat up to look at the paper sitting on the table. It was practically screaming at her to open it, but she remained frozen on the bed. After contemplating what the letter could possibly contain, she moved to open it.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Hey, so sorry this took so long…I've been hit with a wave of laziness not having classes anymore so I've been kind of slacking off. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Thanks for reading and please leave a review, it's greatly appreciated. This is pretty short, mostly because I am a bit uncertain of what to do with the story now, so leave a comment telling me what you think I should do. Thanks, again! And in case I don't post before Friday, Merry Christmas!

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen**

Lizzie was entirely too exhausted to deal with her mother's incessant complaining once she had returned from Yellowstone the day after Charlotte's wedding.  
Charlotte and Ricky left the same day, flying to New York to enjoy their honeymoon. Lizzie was extremely torn watching her friend leave with him, but was soon confronted with a greater source of mixed feelings that was going back home. During their brief time in Helena before Lizzie left for the wedding, Jane had improved remarkably. She was smiling almost as much as she used to, and based on a phone call the day before, she had met Lydia's new boyfriend and reported to Lizzie that he was "extremely friendly and suited Lydia nicely."

Lizzie was settling back into her favorite childhood hiding spot in the top of a tree in their backyard when she felt the paper of Will's letter in her jacket pocket from earlier that day. She pulled it out and unfolded it for the millionth time; after she read it the first time she could hardly believe what it said and read it countless more times trying to fully grasp the gravity of its contents.

 _Dear Lizzie,_

 _Please don't think that this is any repetition of what I said to you this evening. I simply want to defend myself for the accusations you laid at my feet. For your sister, I am truly sorry that I caused her grief, but what I did was what I believed to be right for Charlie at the moment. I didn't know that he had left without saying anything to her; I never asked and assumed he had called her.  
For George Wickham, I do not know how you came to know him; I believed he was still in New York. In fact, a few days before I came here I saw him in Ithaca with my sister. George is the son of my father's business partner. They began the company together, unfortunately, George's father died before any profit came from the company. My father took George under his wing and continued to provide for him. Once my own father died when I was in college, the stocks my father had owned were split evenly between the three of us, my sister, myself, and George. George soon sold me his stocks, claiming he did not want any part of the company and simply asked me to fulfill my father's wish and pay for his school. I obliged and he attended Boston University. About two years ago, George and my younger sister began a relationship. I had known George in college, and his habits among women were not something I wanted my sister to be exposed to. I tried to tell Gigi about his behavior but she became angry and did not speak to me. George soon convinced her to sell her stocks to him; Gigi later also revealed that he told her his intentions were to share the stock's interest. I surprised her in Ithaca, trying to make amends, and her own guilt and conscious led her to tell me about the trade with George. Once I spoke to George I learned that he had no intention of sharing anything with my sister. Gigi was devastated when he left, after I assured him he would be getting none of the stocks. I am not sure how they thought it would go unnoticed since I am the CEO of the company, I imagine George was desperate and Gigi was unaware. After he left, I had not seen him until he was in Ithaca last week. My cousin knows about Gigi's experience with George and can vouch for its validity.  
Finally, for the comment you thought was about you at the party. I am very sorry you thought I said that about you. In actuality, I said that comment about Caroline, and I let my foul mood get the better of me when I said that. I am sorry for the misunderstanding, and I hope you now know that I could never say something negative about you. For the truth to this, you can ask Charlie. _

_Will Darcy_

Lizzie folded the paper back up and slid it into her jacket. She leaned her head up against trunk and sighed, taking in the splotches of blue through the verdant foliage.

She felt guilty; and ashamed that she had believed George's story so readily. She did not imagine herself as someone who was so easily affected by charming manners and a handsome face, but was coming to a realization that she, perhaps, had been wrong. In regards to her sister, Lizzie felt relatively unchanged, though she appreciated the effort at remorse. Now that her sister was feeling better and moving on, it was difficult to bring up what Will had told her, and she decided not to let her know.

"Lizzie," Jane called from the base of the tree, "dinner's almost ready, why don't you come down?"

"I'll be right there," Lizzie began her precarious descent. Part of her wanted to stay angry at Will, but she came to the realization that she would probably never see him again, and decided not to waste her effort.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

The week since Charlotte's wedding had flown past a blur of activities that brought back nostalgia in full force. Lizzie was glad for the distractions. It kept her mind off of Will's letter and how terrible she felt about the whole George Wickham deal. She had always prided herself on being a good judge of character, but apparently she had fallen short in her estimation of George. She wasn't too quick to believe everything Will said; she wouldn't make the same mistake of trusting one man's opinion of the other again, but she had intentions of seeing him again in LA, and perhaps confronting him on the subject. She hadn't quite figured out the details, but something should happen.

Jane was feeling better, and in their shared childhood bedroom, in the hours before sleep, Jane confessed to Lizzie that she had almost entirely forgotten Charlie.

Lizzie wasn't going to use the letter to remind her, but she hated keeping things from her sister.

"Lizzie, dear, sit up straight," her mother chastised her as she hunched over a bowl of cereal. So far only her, her mother, and her younger sister Mary were awake, "you know slouching like that isn't good for your back."

Lizzie straightened herself, and gave Mary, who was sitting next to her, an exasperated smile.

Lizzie's father emerged from the hallway rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, "Good morning everybody," he said as he yawned.

"Good morning," Mary and Lizzie replied in unison as their father meandered to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup.

* * *

"Jane, Lizzie," Lydia was bored out of her mind and wanted to convince her sisters, who were leaving to return to California soon, to help aid her boredom, "let's go shopping! I am so bored, and you two could use some clothes for the upcoming spring season."

Lizzie and Jane readily agreed, tired of watching reruns of _Friends_ on the television. Mary decided to stay at home, but Kitty agreed to follow them to the mall. The four of them piled into their parents' car and Lydia, claiming to know the fastest route to the mall, decided to drive.

Soon they found themselves mingling between racks of clothing and Lydia and Kitty had disappeared in the dressing rooms.

"So, did you safely manage not to beat up Charlotte's fiancé in Yellowstone?" Jane began, thumbing through the clearance tops.

Lizzie laughed, "Fortunately, yes, and I met some interesting people," she replied haphazardly.

"Who did you meet?" Jane asked, not really paying attention to their full conversation, as she pulled out an attractive purple blouse.

"Will's cousin, Richard, he's hilarious and he lives in Seattle and—"

"Will as in…Will Darcy?" Jane looked up at her sister, who immediately regretted the words she had said. Hadn't she promised not to mention Will to Jane. Jane took her silence as conformation, "why was Will Darcy at Charlotte's wedding?"

 _Might as well tell her the truth,_ "Apparently, Ricky's future employer is Will's aunt," Lizzie tried to make light of the situation and keep her sister's thoughts from Charlie, "but he was his usual anti-social self."

Jane nodded and resumed looking through the shirts, done with the present conversation she asked, "Are you looking forward to going home?"

"Yeah, a bit," Lizzie readily complied with her sister's change of subject, "I got an email about a new project were doing at work, it seems really cool and I'm going to get to do some field research that I'm really excited about," Lizzie gauged that her sister wasn't too interested in her upcoming research and quickly accommodated, "what about you?"

"I am anxious to get back to work," Jane replied honestly, "it feels like forever since I've done anything artistic and I really want to reconnect with that passion. I mean, I haven't painted since…well,"

"Yeah, I am looking forward to your artistic endeavors," Lizzie smiled at her sister, noting her hesitance.

Lydia and Kitty had returned with an onslaught of clothing, they asked for Jane and Lizzie opinion on what they should buy, and Lizzie thought the 'Remembering Charlie' crisis had been somewhat safely avoided.

* * *

"You know what," Lizzie turned toward her sister on the airplane back to LA, "I have actually missed California weather, I mean, I know that I am made for the cold, but sometimes it's nice to be able to wear shorts whenever I want."

Jane nodded, "I am looking forward to moving on with my life."

Lizzie smiled as they settled in for their flight.

* * *

Despite all she complained about work, Lizzie really enjoyed what she did. Her team decided to come up with an innovative agricultural technique that they wanted to try out. The idea was to take some creative inspiration from tide pools and level that into a new way to grow plants that required a substantial amount of water. This is where Lizzie's upcoming role as a field researcher came into play. Her team decided that she should head a bit south and do some in-depth analysis of tide pools in the area.

Lizzie, though enjoying being back in the city, was also excited to see the southern Californian coast. In fact, she had volunteered for the research and her group had agreed since they had other projects they were working on, and were willing to let her handle the more labor intensive work. And they had all been to San Clemente before, and were happy to give Lizzie the opportunity to see it.

"San Clemente?" she asked.

"Yeah, they have some great beaches down there,"

"Yeah, but why does it sound so familiar?" she racked her brain for any memories she had, she shrugged, not able to remember anything, "it's probably just the setting of a movie or book I read,"

Her team nodded and dispersed for lunch, and Lizzie sat quietly at her desk eating her sandwich before a thought dawned on her, "Crap," she said audibly, and quickly pulled open a search bar before looking up the population of San Clemente. "Okay, sixty-five thousand people, there's no way, I'll run into him."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey guys, sorry for the somewhat late update. And sorry for the short chapter, the next two will be kind of boring because I need to tie up some loose ends and set up for the next part of the story, which I hope will be sufficiently more exciting. And sorry for no Will Darcy this chapter, he'll return next chapter, I promise! Anyway, the whole tide pool agriculture thing is actually a project I did for an environmental science class one time, I have diagrams and everything. Also I haven't proofed yet so let me know about any errors. Please leave a comment to tell me what you think! And happy new year!


	15. Update

**Update**

Hey, so this is just an update on my hiatus. So I am in the last semester of high school, and I really want to focus on applying to scholarships so I can actually afford to go to college next year. However, I hope that this summer I will return to this story and finish it! I don't plan to give it up, you'll just have to give me a break because this is important to me. Thanks for all of you who have stuck with me this far, and I hope you'll join me again this summer. In addition, I will probably also be uploading the formative chapters again with some editing (mostly mechanical), and that will also be this summer when I am settled with college and everything. Thank you all so much and I look forward to writing again in the summer.


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